Fresh questions have emerged over the extent of communications between Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Mandelson after the Government released more than 1,500 pages of documents relating to the former Labour grandee’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the United States.
The disclosure, published on Monday, contains emails, WhatsApp messages and other correspondence connected to Lord Mandelson’s appointment. However, critics have focused on the apparent lack of direct exchanges between the Prime Minister and his former ambassador.
Among the material released was a single page containing nine iMessage exchanges between Sir Keir and Lord Mandelson. The limited correspondence has prompted accusations from Conservative MPs that significant communications may be absent from the official record.
Alex Burghart, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said it was difficult to believe so few messages existed between two of Labour’s most senior political figures.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Burghart claimed there appeared to be substantial gaps in the material provided to the Cabinet Office.
He noted that several senior ministers had submitted no WhatsApp messages relating to Lord Mandelson, despite their close involvement in Labour’s political operation. Mr Burghart also pointed to the apparent absence of exchanges involving senior Labour figures including Peter Kyle and Morgan McSweeney, both regarded as close political allies of Lord Mandelson.
The Conservative frontbencher suggested that if communications existed but had not been supplied as part of the disclosure process, they may have been deleted. He said the lack of messages between the Prime Minister and Lord Mandelson “beggars belief”, arguing that either relevant communications had not been released or no longer existed.
Questions have also been raised over correspondence involving Mr McSweeney, Sir Keir’s former chief of staff and a key supporter of Lord Mandelson’s appointment. The released documents reportedly contain only a small number of emails and messages from Mr McSweeney.
The row follows months of controversy surrounding Lord Mandelson’s appointment. Earlier this year, Sir Keir faced criticism after acknowledging that he was aware of Lord Mandelson’s continuing friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein when approving the appointment.
The Government has repeatedly defended both the appointment process and the subsequent disclosure of documents.
Responding to concerns in the House of Commons on Monday, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones insisted that all of the Prime Minister’s messages had been included in the released bundle.
Mr Jones told MPs that prime ministers do not typically conduct government business through direct email exchanges, arguing that officials frequently act on their behalf and implement decisions through established channels.
“All of the Prime Minister’s messages have been disclosed in the bundle, in the same way as those of every other minister,” he said.
He added that communications carried out by officials on behalf of ministers formed part of the record released by the Government.
Nevertheless, the limited volume of direct correspondence between Sir Keir and Lord Mandelson has fuelled further scrutiny from opposition MPs, who continue to question whether the disclosure provides a complete picture of discussions surrounding one of the Government’s most controversial appointments.
Online reaction was equally sceptical, with many readers questioning how such a senior diplomatic appointment could have generated so little direct communication between the Prime Minister and the ambassador concerned. Others argued that the absence of messages risks creating an impression of secrecy, regardless of whether any wrongdoing occurred.
The Cabinet Office maintains that ministers complied with requests to provide relevant material and that all communications submitted as part of the review have been published.
