LONDON / OSLO -- Britain's Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Chris Wormald, has become the third senior official to step down in less than a week amid the political fallout over former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, the Cabinet Office announced Thursday.

"It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as a civil servant for the past 35 years, and a particular distinction to lead the Service as Cabinet Secretary," Wormald said in a statement.

The Cabinet Office added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will appoint a new Cabinet Secretary "shortly."

According to the British government, the Cabinet Secretary is the Prime Minister's most senior policy adviser and acts as Secretary to the Cabinet, responsible to all ministers for the running of Cabinet Government.

READ MORE: Starmer apologizes over Mandelson appointment amid Epstein-linked scandal

Wormald was appointed to the post in December 2024. Previously, he served as Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and at the Department for Education.

The wave of resignations started when Morgan McSweeney, the first senior official to step down in the fallout, quit on Sunday as Starmer's chief of staff following controversy over the appointment of Mandelson.

Mandelson was appointed ambassador to Washington in early 2025 but was dismissed by Starmer after seven months as renewed questions about his links to late American financier Jeffrey Epstein emerged.

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself. When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice," McSweeney said in a resignation letter published by local media.

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"In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside," he added.

After his departure, Starmer asked his deputy chiefs of staff, Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson, to serve as acting chiefs of staff.

The series continued on Monday with the resignation of Starmer's director of communications Tim Allan.

"I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success," Allan said in a brief statement sent to local media. Allan took up the post in September 2025 and served for five months.

The scandal has put growing pressure on both the British government and the royal family.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said Monday that Prince of Wales, William, and Princess of Wales, Catherine, were "deeply concerned" by the latest revelations in the Epstein files. "Their thoughts remain focused on the victims," the spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, on February 5, Starmer apologized for his decision to appoint Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States.

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Speaking at an event in the town of Hastings in southeast England, Starmer said he had underestimated the seriousness of Mandelson's past association with Epstein. He offered an apology to victims connected to the Epstein case and said he understood the anger voiced across parliament.

"I want to say this. I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed, sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him, and sorry that even now you're forced to watch this story unfold in public once again," the prime minister said.

Ex-Norwegian PM suspected of aggravated corruption over Epstein files

A former Norwegian Prime Minister and high-ranking international diplomat has been formally listed as a suspect for aggravated corruption over the Epstein files, his lawyer confirmed on Thursday.

The announcement followed coordinated raids by Okokrim, Norway's national authority for investigating and prosecuting economic and environmental crime, on multiple properties belonging to Thorbjorn Jagland.

The raids occurred less than 24 hours after the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers voted unanimously to waive Jagland's diplomatic immunity, allowing Norwegian authorities to investigate acts performed in his official capacity during his decade-long tenure as secretary general of the Council of Europe.

READ MORE: US commerce secretary admits having lunch with Epstein on private island

The investigation comes after the US Department of Justice said on Jan 30 that more than 3 million additional pages of materials had been published under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019, was a US financier accused of sex trafficking.

Norwegian media have reported that the newly released materials shed further light on Jagland's contacts with Epstein, including plans for a family visit to Epstein's private Caribbean island in 2014 that was later canceled.

On Thursday morning, investigators from Okokrim searched Jagland's primary apartment in Oslo and his holiday residence in Risor. Witnesses saw officers removing boxes and suitcases from the Oslo property, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Under Norwegian law, the use of such coercive measures automatically grants an individual the formal status of "charged."

"I have only one thing to say, and that is that I am very glad the case is being clarified," Jagland told the press as he left his apartment, accompanied by his lawyer.

Jagland served as Norway's prime minister from 1996 to 1997, as secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019, and as chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2009 to 2015.