Political reporter Kate Whannel
Newly published messages show Lord Peter Mandelson exchanging advice, criticism and political observations with ministers and senior officials, including blunt assessments of No 10, comments about the prime minister and notes of practical suggestions from gifting to speeches.
Criticism of No 10 and Keir Starmer
On 2 May 2025, Mandelson told then-Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden that “Keir lacks verve as does the Cabinet as a whole.” In exchanges later that summer he criticised Downing Street advisers, saying they were capable but “they don’t work as a team, they are not led and none of them really know what Keir thinks or wants.” He added: “In fact most of them don’t think Keir knows what he wants.”
In a July message Mandelson suggested the prime minister was repeatedly shifting direction, noting that Starmer had reversed course on immigration, welfare and Gaza and that there was a prevailing “let Keir be Keir” approach. He told McFadden he visited No 10 after seeing him and found it “beleaguered and bereft,” arguing it needed a complete overhaul to regain purpose and confidence.
MPs’ concerns and context
McFadden also relayed blunt conversations he had with other Labour figures about welfare and public spending, writing that many discussions amounted to asking “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others” and that they were “asking the wrong questions.” Allies emphasise that message was sent while McFadden was running the Cabinet Office, before he took responsibility for the benefits system.
A spokesperson for the work and pensions secretary said McFadden had fully complied with the Humble Address and handed over all messages, adding that his only contact with Mandelson since leaving government had been to urge him to consider victims and to apologise to them.
A red dispatch box for President Trump
The papers record conversations about commissioning an official government red dispatch box as a gift for then-US President Donald Trump. The planning ran into complications; the former US ambassador told No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney he had “gone tonto” and described the episode as a “saga” reminiscent of the TV comedy The Thick of It. Sir Olly Robbins, then the foreign office’s top official, suggested a bespoke red box engraved “President of the United States” would have particular symbolic value.
Advice on AI messaging
Mandelson also offered speech advice. On 8 February 2025 he told Peter Kyle, then the government’s technology secretary, that Kyle’s address would “benefit from more positive language about AI up front before you get into the security stuff.” Kyle responded that he would “action” the suggestion, and six days later at the Munich Security Conference said: “in the UK, we reject the doomsayers and the pessimists” about artificial intelligence.
Lobbying for Oxford chancellorship
Before his ambassadorial appointment, in 2024 Mandelson lobbied Oxford alumni among Labour ministers to back him for the university’s largely ceremonial chancellorship. He contacted several former colleagues and political figures, including Emma Reynolds, Ed Miliband, Torsten Bell, Georgia Gould, Ellie Reeves, Kirsty McNeill and James Murray. He was ultimately beaten for the role by William Hague.
Photographs accompanying the release show Mandelson with the prime minister in February 2025, shortly after his appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the United States. The exchanged messages illustrate Mandelson’s active engagement with serving ministers and officials, combining strategic criticism, practical suggestions and private political commentary.
