Mandelson told government 'never regret' his US ambassador appointment

Lord Peter Mandelson declared that the Government would "never regret" appointing him as Britain's ambassador to the United States, according to a note published alongside thousands of documents relating to the posting. The second batch of documents concerning Sir Keir Starmer's decision to award the prestigious Washington role to Lord Mandelson, rather than a career diplomat, was released by the Government on Monday afternoon. The documents also revealed that Lord Mandelson apparently "declined to comply" with a request to surrender his personal mobile phone and permit the Government to publish WhatsApp messages and other information connected to his appointment. Prior to their release, the Prime Minister's official spokesman described the sweeping, government-wide effort to publish the documents as an "unprecedented piece of Government transparency". Ministers had been steeling themselves for potentially embarrassing disclosures ahead of the files' publication, which include thousands of previously private WhatsApp exchanges between senior figures at the heart of Government. The note, dated November 18 2024, appears to have been drafted while Lord Mandelson was awaiting the outcome of a vote to determine Oxford University's next chancellor — a position he was widely regarded as one of the leading candidates for at the time. The letter, penned in blue ink on notepaper bearing Lord Mandelson's name and a House of Lords emblem, stated: "Dear David, As today (and all week) is polling day in Oxford and I am returning to London, I wanted to drop you a line, personally, about Washington. "Thankfully, the media speculation has gone away and I hope this was not too irritating to you. I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it." Steering Britain's interests "through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort", he wrote, continuing: "For me it would be the last thing I do in public life and it would be a huge honour to serve you and the Government in this role. So if you are up for it, so am I." The disclosure revealed Lord Mandelson had exchanged WhatsApp messages with several government ministers. On 20 July 2025, he informed pensions minister Torsten Bell that "the government doesn't do policy, generally speaking, well enough". Mr Bell responded: "That is definitely true – everyone seems to think it's someone else's job to get the policy right... Which is very odd." Lord Mandelson replied: "As the saying goes, rubbish in rubbish out..." In other exchanges, he described former transport secretary Louise Haigh's departure from government as "harsh" following her resignation over a fraud offence. In a message to her dated 29 November 2024, he wrote: "Lou, I am very sorry about this. You have been brave and loyal in your decision but it seems harsh given you were appointed in full knowledge. "But you have acted in a way that enables you to come back later and everything you say and do now should be done with that in mind. Strong and honourable." Lord Mandelson was compelled to resign from government positions on two occasions during the New Labour years. The three sets of documents, spanning 1,504 pages in total, encompass topics from negotiations over a US trade agreement to Lord Mandelson's repeated attempts to secure backing from senior Labour MPs for the Oxford University position. The papers also reveal Lord Mandelson attempting to arrange meetings between ministers and his associates and acquaintances – including proposing that Sir Keir should have a "chat" with Conservative former prime minister Sir John Major following Labour's 2024 election victory. Sir Keir responded: "I'll reach out to John M, he's a very thoughtful man."