Revealing messages between Lord Peter Mandelson and several government ministers and officials have been published in the latest tranche of documents relating to the disgraced former Labour peer’s appointment as US ambassador.
Among them are emails and WhatsApp conversations with work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, former health secretary Wes Streeting and ex-communications chief Matthew Doyle.
The documents were ordered to be published by the House of Commons in the wake of revelations about Lord Mandelson’s ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
It is the second batch of files relating to Sir Keir Starmer’s ill-fated decision to give the prestigious Washington post to Lord Mandelson rather than a career diplomat.
No 10 indicated the release of documents was everything it planned to publish on Lord Mandelson, apart from files held back at the request of Scotland Yard to avoid jeopardising its investigation.
Here are the main takeaways:
Mandelson told ministers to behave in a more ‘Trumpian’ way to beat Reform
Lord Mandelson told ministers to behave in a more “Trumpian risk-taking and daredevil way” in the aftermath of Labour’s loss to Reform in the Runcorn by-election.
In messages to Mr McFadden, Lord Mandelson said the party’s problems “stems from the top and Keir [Starmer] lacks verve”.
He went on to tell Mr McFadden on 3 May, in a message at around 4am US time, that Morgan McSweeney, then chief-of-staff for Sir Keir, was “so confident” the party would win Runcorn. The party eventually lost to Reform by just six votes.
He wrote: “It does start right from the top, I am afraid, but you must all contribute more to it by breaking out of the Whitehall system and mould and appearing less like business as usual conventional ministers and, dare I say it, behaving in a more Trumpian risk taking and dare devil way.”
Mandelson tells Lammy he will ‘never regret’ making him US ambassador
Lord Mandelson told deputy leader David Lammy he would “never regret” appointing him as Britain’s ambassador to the US.
The note, dated November 18 2024, appears to have been written as Lord Mandelson was awaiting the results of a vote of who would be Oxford University’s next chancellor, a job he was said to be among the frontrunners for at the time.
The letter, written in blue pen on notepaper headed with Lord Mandelson’s name and a House of Lords seal, read: “Dear David, As today (and all week) is polling day in Oxford and I am returning to London, I wanted to drop you a line, personally, about Washington.
“Thankfully, the media speculation has gone away and I hope this was not too irritating to you. I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it.”
’Assume not’, Mandelson said in question to UK Security Vetting on telling them about every foreign national he had met
Lord Mandelson asked UK Security Vetting if he should tell them about “literally every foreign national I have ever met”.
“I assume not,” he said in an email, adding: “Could you be a bit more specific about what sort of person, how far back, who I have done more than meet? Do you mean friends?”
In a subsequent email with the unnamed case assistant, he said: “I have a large number of personal acquaintances with foreign nationals but I would not describe these as current friendships or personal business connections.”
A Foreign Office official Lord Mandelson had sent the exchange to responded: “Ha. I suggest you send over the handful of names you mentioned, even though you don’t consider them ‘close contacts’.
“That will reassure the vetting team that you’ve been comprehensive, even if it’s all quite artificial.”
Mandelson and McFadden speculated that Starmer may not survive welfare rebellion
The files reveal an exchange between Lord Mandelson and the now work and pensions secretary over the PM’s future amid a climbdown on welfare cuts in the face of a rebellion by Labour backbenchers.
As it was unravelling, Mr McFadden wrote that the situation was “very bad”.
He warned that many of the options “all destroy his [the PM’s] authority”. Lord Mandelson wrote: “If it presses to a vote and is lost I am not sure that Keir survives that.” In the end, there was no vote and the government climbed down on the plans.
McFadden told Mandelson Labour MPs only ask ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’
Mr McFadden accused Labour MPs of focusing on “who we can tax” in messages to Peter Mandelson. He told the former Labour peer that there was a “lot of manoeuvring here” – including from Angela Rayner and Gordon Brown – and that it “doesn’t feel good for Keir” on 23 May 2025.
At the time, Sir Keir was under pressure over the fallout of local elections and his “island of strangers” immigration speech.
Mr McFadden went on to criticise the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), telling Lord Mandelson: “Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’. They’re asking the wrong questions.”
Soon after the files were released, the Tory party took the comments for poster shared on social media:
Mandelson warns Starmer’s Downing Street operation is ‘beleaguered and bereft’
Lord Mandelson warned that Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation is “beleaguered and bereft” in WhatsApp messages to Pat McFadden in July 2025.
The then US ambassador said: “I went in to No10 after I saw you. It is beleaguered and bereft.”
“It requires complete revamp and infusion of purpose and confidence to get anywhere,” he added.
Lord Mandelson went on to say that Starmer was consistently choosing “direction B” over direction A.
In another exchange with Mr McFadden on 3 May 2025, Lord Mandelson said Sir Keir lacked “verve as does the Cabinet as a whole”. He said: “People’s heads are broadly in the right place but you need more people who can execute.”
Mandelson consoles former transport minister over ‘harsh’ exit – then congratulates her replacement
Lord Mandleson told former transport secretary Louise Haigh’s exit from government was “harsh” after she quit over a fraud offence.
In a message to her on 29 November 2024, he said: “Lou, I am very sorry about this. You have been brave and loyal in your decision but it seems harsh given you were appointed in full knowledge.
“But you have acted in a way that enables you to come back later and everything you say and do now should be done with that in mind. Strong and honourable.”
On the same day, Lord mandleson congratulates her replacement Heidi Alexander on her appointment.
“You will be a great success – and your railway town can be very proud of you Peter x,” he wrote.
Mandelson refused to hand over WhatsApp messages
Lord Mandelson “declined to comply” with a request to hand over his WhatsApp messages and other information on his personal phone to the government, the latest documents have revealed.
A note on the methodology stated that they written to Lord Mandelson’s solicitors to request information held on his personal phone but this was denied.
