Mandelson cover-up row grows as Tories demand to know whether NINE ministers copied Keir Starmer and deleted messages with disgraced peer

By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 23:03, 2 June 2026 | Updated: 23:06, 2 June 2026 Keir Starmer's private messages to Peter Mandelson were automatically deleted, Downing Street has admitted – amid growing claims of a cover-up. In an extraordinary admission, No 10 revealed that the Prime Minister uses the 'disappearing messages' function on his phone, despite Labour condemning the practice in opposition. Asked about the admission, Nigel Farage told the Mail: 'He's got a lot to hide, clearly.' The Conservatives have now demanded to know which other ministers are routinely destroying their private exchanges after analysis showed that nine senior figures were unable to produce any messages with Lord Mandelson. Ministers will be accused of a cover-up when MPs debate the Mandelson files on Wednesday. Sir Keir railed against the Conservatives for introducing 'government by WhatsApp' which he likened at the time to 'sleaze'. Angela Rayner warned in 2021 that ministers 'must not govern by private messages that are then deleted', adding: 'This is completely undemocratic and an attack on transparency and accountability.' No 10 insisted on Tuesday that the Prime Minister had 'fully complied' with demands from parliament to publish all material relating to his disastrous decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Deleted: Keir Starmer used disappearing messages to remove traces of his contact with his former friend Peter Mandelson But a 1,500-page dossier of material published on Monday contained just two innocuous messages between Sir Keir and the disgraced peer, dating from around the time of the 2024 election. No 10 admitted that Sir Keir and several other Cabinet ministers use the 'disappearing messages' function on their phones despite having criticised the practice in opposition. Cabinet Office guidance allows ministers and officials to use disappearing messages to 'limit the build up' of material on people's phones. But it adds: 'You must ensure that any such use does not impact on your record keeping or transparency responsibilities.' Ministers are meant to screenshot their conversations so that their decisions can be recorded. But Sir Keir does not appear to have followed the guidance, meaning there is now no record of his exchanges with Lord Mandelson or dozens of other figures in government. Tory shadow cabinet minister Alex Burghart said: 'Government guidance is clear: significant information and decisions must be properly recorded and preserved. But Keir Starmer's messages to Peter Mandelson have disappeared or been destroyed. 'The Conservatives have forced the government to hand over hundreds of documents that show just how shoddy Starmer's government is. It's clear even more have vanished… We will continue pressing for the truth.' Tory analysis suggests that nine members of the Cabinet disclosed no messages with Lord Mandelson. Missing ministers include Rachel Reeves, who was in dispute with the US over Donald Trump's tariffs, David Lammy, who was Lord Mandelson's boss and business secretary Peter Kyle, who was one of his closest political allies. Government sources also said there was no record of a meeting in December 2024 at which Sir Keir and his then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney decided to appoint Lord Mandelson despite being warned he had maintained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein following his arrest for child sex offences. Downing Street insisted the document release was one of the biggest transparency exercises ever conducted. However, the Cabinet Office has now ordered a review of the use of WhatsApp in government. The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.