Mandelson launched operation to dig into lives of EU colleagues

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% : The reports were collated for Mandelson - who served as EU trade commissioner from 2004 to 2008 - by Mr Darroch, now Sir Kim, who himself went on to become Britain's ambassador to the United States, the post Lord Mandelson, 71, will take up in the New Year.
51% : Peter Mandelson asked the Foreign Office to dig into EU colleagues when he was dispatched to Brussels as an EU commissioner in 2004The EU commissioners in Brussels (Lord Mandelson is pictured at the centre rear)Mr Darroch duly instructed the 24 British ambassadors in each of the other European capitals: 'He would like to know about their politics, their personalities, their interests away from work, any attitudes towards the UK - in short, what makes them tick.'Mr Darroch stressed the need to 'discreetly establish' information and asked for reports within four days.
48% : The last time Britain sent him off to foreign lands, Peter Mandelson launched a hush-hush operation to dig into the personal and political lives of his new EU colleagues, files from 2004 reveal.
44% : John Nichols, ambassador to Hungary, responded with a dispatch to the Foreign Office marked 'confidential' about Hungarian commissioner Laszlo Kovacs, a former communist.Kovacs, 65, had 'no great grasp of the detail of EU business', and his personal life was 'complicated', reported the UK's envoy in Budapest, who wrote: 'He is still married with one daughter, but in typical Hungarian fashion spends more time with his mistress, a former elite prostitute, Eva Endrenyi, who, according to some, will accompany him to Brussels.'A letter written by Sir Kim Darroch (pictured) said that Mandelson wanted to go beyond the official biographies written by his fellow incoming commissionersRead More Plot to kidnap Prince Harry on gap year in Argentina led to royal security shake-upBritain's ambassador to Latvia reported that its country's commissioner, Ingrida Udre, was an 'elegant and vivacious 40-something' who 'likes to sing' but 'frets at her weight-gain as deskwork now outstrips exercise'.

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