Darren Jones’s Messages With Peter Mandelson Released by Spectator Alongside 1,500 Pages of Government Documents

Messages between Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones and Lord Mandelson were published in the Spectator after they did not appear in the 1,500 pages of documents released on Monday. The messages show Jones praising Mandelson on the day Sir Keir Starmer dismissed him as UK ambassador to the US and discussing Jones's preferred roles during last year's Cabinet reshuffle.

On the day of the dismissal, Jones wrote to Mandelson: "You've been doing such a great job, and you worked wonders with Trump.

Mandelson criticised the government's growth plans, saying responsibility lay with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, then-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, and then-business secretary Jonathan Reynolds. " Jones sought Mandelson's advice on promotion during the reshuffle triggered by Rayner's resignation over unpaid stamp duty.

His first preference was the Department for Business and Trade, followed by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Jonathan Reynolds was later moved to chief whip, and Jones was appointed Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. In a House of Commons debate on Wednesday, Jones said he had turned on WhatsApp's disappearing messages feature, which is permitted under ministerial guidance.

He told MPs he had no messages to disclose because he had no access to them after enabling the setting.

Jones apologised to the House, to victims, and to Lisa Phillips. He said he had not consciously ignored negative stories about Mandelson and denied receiving warnings about him. He acknowledged that he may have "at best subconsciously" treated Mandelson differently because of his perceived influence and power within the Labour Party and that he had benefited from the relationship during his time as an elected politician.

Lord Mandelson was removed from the ambassador post when the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein became known. The messages were expected in the Monday document release but surfaced separately in the Spectator.