Mandelson appointment messages expose Labour splits as Starmer gathers Cabinet

02 June 2026 , 13:44

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Sir Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday after messages released regarding Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US exposed divisions within Labour.

Sir Keir dismissed Lord Mandelson in September 2025 following increasing pressure to remove him from office after leaked emails showed the peer sent supportive messages even while Jeffrey Epstein faced imprisonment for sex offenses.

MPs voted earlier this year to mandate the release of documents related to his tenure as ambassador.

The more than 1,000 pages of documents in the second batch released on Monday included records of WhatsApp exchanges between Lord Mandelson and Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden that revealed the latter’s frustration with his colleagues.

In May 2025, following local election setbacks and the Runcorn by-election loss, Mr. McFadden said: "Lot of maneuvering here this week. Angela (Rayner), Gordon (Brown). Doesn’t feel good for Keir."

He also expressed that Labour MPs were "asking the wrong questions."

"Every meeting I have is ’who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’," he said.

Mr. McFadden, who was the senior minister in the Cabinet Office at the time, also acknowledged that Sir Keir’s authority risked being undermined by a Labour revolt over welfare reforms.

In June, shortly before the Government conceded to provide a series of concessions to rebel MPs, he said: "I think it’s very bad. Defeat, pull Bill or gut it all destroys his authority."

Mr. McFadden became the Work and Pensions Secretary, responsible for the welfare system, in September 2025.

Lord Mandelson was highly critical of Sir Keir’s operation in messages, stating that the Prime Minister "lacks verve" and that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could not elucidate where economic growth would come from.

In a message to Mr. McFadden in July 2025, he said: "I went into No10 after I saw you. It is beleaguered and bereft. It requires a complete revamp and infusion of purpose and confidence to get anywhere."

In the same month, he said the Government "doesn’t do policy, generally speaking, well enough," in a message to pensions minister Torsten Bell.

Mr. Bell told him: "That is definitely true – everyone seems to think it’s someone else’s job to get the policy right… Which is very odd."

Lord Mandelson replied: "As the saying goes, rubbish in rubbish out…"

MPs will have the opportunity to debate the second batch of files on Wednesday.

Also in the files:

– Lord Mandelson was dismissive about Wes Streeting’s "hysterical" comments after the former health secretary messaged him about recognizing a Palestinian state.

– Lord Mandelson "declined to comply" with a request to hand over his personal phone to allow access to his WhatsApp messages and other information related to his appointment.

– Cabinet Office officials initially believed he would not require developed vetting because of his status as a member of the House of Lords, but later decided he would.

– Emails showed that the Foreign Office gave Lord Mandelson access to "higher classification material" on a case-by-case basis before his developed vetting was cleared.

– Lord Mandelson sent a note to then-foreign secretary David Lammy about potentially being made ambassador, saying "if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it."

– Lord Mandelson lobbied several ministers to support his bid to become chancellor of Oxford University.

– He requested to be put on the Foreign Office payroll after a Shanghai conference occurred as he had committed to a paid speaking engagement that he would attend virtually on behalf of his company Global Counsel. However, it is not clear whether he actually went ahead and spoke at the conference.