Mandelson messages could form a manual in the dark arts of wielding power and keeping it

Files shed light on how the Labour grandee juggled patrons and supplicants using flattery, fury and contempt for three decades

Political analysts have been frustrated by the mass redactions in the Mandelson files published on Monday: with so much obscured, many serious questions remain unanswered.

But step aside from the vetting debate, and the files do shed light on another matter: how Peter Mandelson wields power, and how effectively he uses communication as a tool for maintaining it. Over the many years of retirement that lie ahead, the former ambassador might easily reshape them into a manual for his would-be successors.