𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Prime Minister uses the disappearing messages function on his phone, meaning conversations with Peter Mandelson may have been lost, Downing Street has admitted. Only a limited number of Sir Keir Starmer’s WhatsApp messages with the disgraced peer were disclosed in the Manelson files released to Parliament on Monday (June 1), as they automatically delete after just 24 hours.

This comes after MPs forced ministers to publish over 1,400 pages of documents regarding his doomed appointment of Mandelson as US ambassador after the revelations about the closeness of his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Private WhatsApp and email messages revealed the disgraced peer’s influence across Government, including evidence that he messaged the cabinet and lobbied for his own interests while also criticising the PM.

The Mandelson files are the biggest disclosure to Parliament since the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War – announced in 2009 and published in 2016 – costing the taxpayer £1million. However, of the 1,400 pages released, there is only one page of exchanges between the Labour Party leader and Lord Mandelson, made up of nine iMessage texts.

These included suggestions in July 2024 that the PM should meet former Tory leader Sir John Major, with Sir Keir responding that it was “good to be getting on with the job of governing”.

Other messages that could not be accessed included those of cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who was unable to provide WhatsApps after his phone was snatched last year. Former Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney also reported his phone as stolen last year, sparking concerns that important messages related to the controversial appointment could be lost.

Defending the use of disappearing messages, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said use of the function was permitted “as long as use of them does not impact record-keeping or transparency,” according to The Mirror.

The spokesman said: “The Prime Minister does use disappearing messages. As you’ll be aware, some ministers do use that function in line with the Government’s advice on non-corporate communications channels.”

No10 insisted that Sir Keir had fully complied with the rules around the release of the Mandelson files, despite using the disappearing messages function. The spokesman added the PM “has fully complied with the humble address by providing the information he holds, as required”.

“You have seen messages from Peter Mandelson to the PM in this tranche, that’s alongside multiple references via the Prime Minister’s private office, which is the standard and established route for communicating prime ministerial decisions and handling correspondence,” they added.

However, the use of automatically deleting messages has raised questions, as Government guidance reads that significant information and decisions must be properly recorded and preserved.