Mandelson said government would ‘never regret’ appointing him to US role, files show

Even before he arrived in Washington, Peter Mandelson was making a personal pledge: appoint him as Britain’s ambassador to the US, he wrote, and the government would “never regret” it. That assurance has now surfaced in a fresh cache of official papers released alongside thousands of documents about the controversial posting.

The government published the second batch of records this afternoon, shedding more light on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to hand the high-profile Washington role to Mr Mandelson instead of a career diplomat.

The papers also show Mr Mandelson apparently “declined to comply” with a request to surrender his personal phone and permit the government to publish WhatsApp messages and other material connected to his appointment.

Before the release, Mr Starmer’s official spokesman cast the cross-government operation to disclose the material as an “unprecedented piece of government transparency”.

The House of Commons ordered the documents to be made public after revelations about Mr Mandelson’s ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Mandelson was dismissed in September 2025, only nine months after taking up the post, when further details emerged about his friendship with Epstein.

Later disclosures in the Epstein Files prompted a Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.

Number 10 signalled that, aside from files withheld at Scotland Yard’s request so as not to compromise the investigation, the release represents all it intends to publish on Mr Mandelson.

Officials have likened the scale of the exercise reviewing Mr Mandelson-related records to the sorting and disclosure work carried out for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. It is believed to be the second biggest publication ever made to the House of Commons.

MPs voted in February to force ministers to release a broad sweep of papers tied to the appointment through an archaic parliamentary mechanism known as a “humble address”.

A first tranche, published in March, revealed that Mr Starmer had been warned of a “general reputational risk” stemming from Mr Mandelson’s link to Epstein.

The latest set contains messages exchanged by Mr Mandelson with ministers and government advisers, among them Mr Starmer’s former chief of staff, Irish man Morgan McSweeney.

Morgan McSweeney pictured answering questions from the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee in April

Former health secretary Wes Streeting has already made public his own messages with Mr Mandelson, including exchanges about Gaza and criticism of Mr Starmer’s leadership.

The newly released material shows Mr Mandelson traded WhatsApp messages with a number of British government ministers.

Among the documents is a handwritten note from Mr Mandelson to then-foreign secretary David Lammy in which he said the British government would “never regret” choosing him as ambassador to Washington DC.

The letter, written in blue pen on notepaper bearing Mr Mandelson’s name and a House of Lords seal, was dated 11 November 2024 and read:

“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.

“I fear that navigating Britain’s interests through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort.

“There is so much riding on it, on security and defence, on trade and economy and on the relationship, not to mention China.”If we all put our best minds and energy to it, I think we can pull it off but we have to be realistic.

“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.”