A fresh batch of private WhatsApp chats between Darren Jones and Peter Mandelson has emerged, exposing internal disputes over policy, personnel and the handling of growth plans. The messages were omitted from the recent data dump, prompting concerns about undisclosed communications and rising anxiety within Keir Starmer's cabinet.
Keir Starmer and his Cabinet have been placed on high alert after a fresh wave of damaging leaks involving WhatsApp messages that were not part of the large data dump released earlier this week.
The latest disclosures centre on a series of private chats between Darren Jones, a former Treasury deputy, and Peter Mandelson, the former Labour Party architect now sitting in the House of Lords. The messages, which were obtained by The Spectator, were not included in the official set of documents that the Intelligence and Security Committee had cleared for publication, and their emergence has reignited a brewing scandal over missing communications that could expose internal disagreements over policy, personnel and the handling of the party's growth agenda.
The most striking exchange dates back to 11 September 2023, the day Mandelson was effectively removed from his informal advisory role after new evidence about his connections to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein surfaced. In that chat, Mandelson wrote to Jones, "You've been doing such a great job, and you worked wonders with Trump.
I'm so sorry about today," a cryptic message that hints at behind‑the‑scenes maneuvering at a time when the Labour leadership was scrambling to contain fallout from the Epstein revelations. A later series of messages reveal that, after Mandelson met with Treasury chief Rachel Reeves, he sent Jones a note indicating that the government's growth plans were now in the hands of Reeves, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Jones{'} response: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Jones replied bluntly, "It doesn't fill you with confidence," and later chastised members of Reynolds' team for taking positions that seemed driven more by union pressure than by commercial logic, especially in the contentious negotiations over the future of the Port Talbot steelworks.
In a separate conversation about an impending reshuffle, Jones hinted at an ambition to target Reynolds' job, saying, "Everyone is fond of Jonny but the perception is that DBT is not firing on all cylinders.
" These excerpts were absent from the Mandelson files that were handed to Parliament after a February revolt that nearly forced Sir Keir out of office. Analysts believe the omissions were not the result of the Intelligence and Security Committee's redaction process but rather the consequence of the messages never being saved on any device. Both Jones and several senior Labour figures, including Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, rely on WhatsApp's disappearing‑message feature, a practice that has now backfired.
Sir Keir's former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, disclosed that his phone was stolen, resulting in the loss of a number of messages, while Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas‑Symonds suffered a similar fate last year. One previously reported message from Sir Keir to Mandelson - a flattering note calling him a "brilliant envoy" - did not appear in the disclosed material.
The only substantive exchange involving Sir Keir that survived the leak was a July 2024 conversation in which Mandelson suggested Sir Keir invite former Prime Minister John Major for a chat, describing Major as "interesting and thoughtful". Sir Keir's reply was upbeat, praising the governing process and contrasting it with the opposition.
During a Commons debate on the data dump, Darren Jones reiterated that the only person who could possibly retrieve the missing chats is Mandelson, who has so far refused to hand over his phone to the Cabinet Office's disclosure process. He said, "There was no decision to disregard any messages because there are no messages to consider.
" A senior government aide warned that ministers who believed they had escaped scrutiny might be in for an "unpleasant surprise" as more leaks continue to surface. Allies of Sir Keir are privately expressing anxiety that the scandal is far from over, describing the situation as a "scorched‑earth" approach.
Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden saw his own messages exposed, including a complaint that Labour MPs were pressuring him to identify taxpayers to fund additional benefits. Treasury Chief Secretary Lucy Rigby, appearing on a morning broadcast, denied using the phrasing attributed to her in the leaked chats, underscoring the growing tension within the party as it wrestles with the fallout from the ongoing revelations
UK Politics Whatsapp Leaks Peter Mandelson Labour Party Internal Disputes Data Disclosure Scandal
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