Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones has been revealed to have exchanged private WhatsApp messages with Peter Mandelson, the former Labour peer sacked as UK ambassador to the US after his relationship with convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein became public. The messages, obtained by The Spectator and not included in the 1,500 pages of Mandelson files published by the government on Monday, show Jones criticising cabinet colleagues and seeking Mandelson’s advice on career advancement.
In one message dated the day Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer dismissed Mandelson from the ambassador role, Jones wrote: “You’ve been doing such a great job, and you worked wonders with Trump. I’m so sorry about today.” Mandelson responded by criticising the government’s growth plans, telling Jones the plans were in the hands of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, then-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, and then-business secretary Jonathan Reynolds. Jones, who at that time was Reeves’ number two at the Treasury, replied: “It doesn’t fill you with confidence.”
Jones also questioned the competence of Jonathan Reynolds’ special advisers. In an exchange about industrial policy, Jones said: “I lost faith in his spads when, on a call about Port Talbot, they repeatedly took a different position to us in HMT [the Treasury] ‘because that’s what the unions want’.”
During last year’s Cabinet reshuffle triggered by Rayner’s resignation over unpaid stamp duty, Jones sought Mandelson’s advice on his own promotion. He told Mandelson his first preference was a role in the Department for Business and Trade, then led by Reynolds and now by Peter Kyle. His second choice was the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, followed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. “I also like MoD but think that’s unlikely,” Jones wrote, because he believed Defence Secretary John Healey was doing a good job. He added: “DBT my preference – everyone fond of Jonny but perception that DBT not firing on full cylinders…”
Jones ultimately was appointed Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, a senior Cabinet Office role.
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Jones addressed the missing messages during a debate on the Mandelson files. He confirmed he had turned on the disappearing messages feature in WhatsApp, which he said is allowed under current ministerial guidance. “It is not that I took a unilateral decision about messages that I felt were in scope or not in scope of the Humble Address; it is merely that I have access to no messages to disclose,” Jones told MPs.
Jones also offered an apology, including to Epstein victim Lisa Phillips. He said he may have subconsciously given Mandelson too much leeway because of his perceived influence within the Labour party. “Did I at best subconsciously treat Peter Mandelson differently because I believed him to have influence and power within the Labour party? I think the answer to that question is yes, I did,” Jones said. “For that I would like to apologise to the House, to the victims, to Lisa, and commit to then doing something about it.”
Jones denied having received any warnings about Mandelson’s ties to Epstein and said he had not consciously ignored negative stories about the peer.