Mandelson's rollercoaster ride

Mandelson: Back in the background

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Peter Mandelson was one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's most trusted advisers and his resignation is the latest chapter in his rollercoaster political career.

It was Mandelson who helped drag Labour out of the doldrums of the 1980s -- things were so bad that some thought they would never be elected again -- and build the fighting force that triumphed in 1997 with a landslide majority.

Although treated with suspicion by traditional old Labour supporters -- Blair said Mandelson was the man that New Labour would have to learn to love.

The passport application row is the latest scandal to dog one of Blair's closest friends and Labour government spin doctor.

Mandelson's position became untenable following criticism surrounding an application for a British passport by Indian tycoon Srichand Hinduja.

He admits contacting the Home Office about the Hinduja passport application -- but his critics say he was actually pulling strings to ensure the application was approved.

The call to the Home Office is said to have happened at about the same time that the Hindujas were sponsoring the Millennium Dome to the tune of £1 million -- and when Mandelson was the minister responsible for the Dome.

It now remains to be seen whether he will walk away from politics altogether -- and step down as MP for Hartlepool.

Mandelson previously resigned as Trade and Industry Secretary in December 1998 over a controversial £373,000 home loan from the then Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson.

But his absence was short lived and Mandelson was restored to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in October 1999 -- a time when the peace process was facing its biggest crisis.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was on the point of collapse over the failure of any progress in the decommissioning of IRA weapons.

Mandelson brought the crisis to a head in February 2000 when he suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly and other institutions set up under the Good Friday accord.

He took the decision to prevent the resignation of David Trimble as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, a move that would have collapsed the institutions anyway.

Days later Sinn Fein, the republican political party, pulled out of talks on decommissioning, and it was feared Northern Ireland would once again plunge into violence and chaos.

But instead the suspension appeared to concentrate IRA minds on the issue of decommissioning. Eventually they came up with a proposal that was acceptable to unionists, and the peace process was put back on track.

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