'Whatsapps', suspicions and shadow power: the 'Mandelson papers' strip bare the Starmer government

LondonBlunt politics on public display and gossip serving as footnotes. After 117 days of review, the British government published this Monday the second installment of the Mandelson files: 1,504 pages of documents regarding Peter Mandelson's appointment as the UK ambassador to the United States. Although there is no explosive revelation directly implicating the prime minister, Keir Starmer, in a designation already controversial due to Mandelson's known links to confessed paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the files offer an unusual snapshot of the inner workings of the Labour executive.

The documents show ministers and senior officials expressing opinions very different from those they defend in public. One of the most notable cases is that of Pat McFadden, current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who in a private conversation mid-last year with Mandelson lamented that meetings on social policies always ended up focusing on "who can we raise taxes on more to pay benefits to other people." A phrase that could become a point of erosion for an already politically weakened Starmer, who has seen nearly a hundred of his MPs ask him to resign three weeks ago.

The executive admits that the final decision on Mandelson's appointment was made without official meeting minutes, a void that fuels suspicions about a lack of transparency, and stirs the legend of the character's shadowy power, known as the Prince of Darkness. In any case, among the documents, a handwritten letter from the ambassador candidate addressed to David Lammy, then Foreign Secretary, stands out, in which he assures him that the government would not regret his appointment. A prophecy that has proven entirely erroneous.

The papers also reveal Mandelson's criticisms of Keir Starmer. In various messages, he describes Downing Street as a space "under siege and lacking direction," stating that many collaborators do not know what the prime minister really thinks and questioning his leadership capacity. According to the veteran politician, a former minister twice and former European commissioner, "the government needs more dynamism, more execution capacity, and a more risk-open attitude to stimulate economic growth."

Mandelson has been a de facto power in the Labour right for three decades, until his recent and definitive fall from graceParadoxically, what stands out most about the Compromising messages

Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-electionUntil now, many politicians considered WhatsApp a relatively safe space, thanks to ephemeral messages and the legal difficulties in accessing them through legal transparency mechanisms. The magnitude of the leak, however, could alter this perception and open the debate on stricter regulation of digital communications within public administration.

Paradoxically, what stands out most from the Mandelson files is not so much what they reveal about the former ambassador as the portrait they offer of the Labour government: an executive where personal tensions, cross-criticism, and informal decision-making are part of everyday life. An image that questions to what extent the political change promised after the July 2024 elections has translated into a real transformation of governance practices.

Other revelations point to possible attempts to control information. An internal email from March 2025 suggests the need to delete communications related to Mandelson's appointment process, although the exact content remains hidden by government censorship. In parallel, several messages show how Mandelson intervened in managing trade tensions with the United States following the global tariffs announced by Trump, although many of these exchanges have been deleted.

Political pressure on Downing Street has increased a few more degrees, then, at a time when speculation about a possible challenge to Starmer's leadership continues to grow. A challenge that could materialize if, on June 18, Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election, a district near Manchester, and sets in motion the mechanism for replacing the prime minister.