UK government unsure if deleted Peter Mandelson WhatsApp messages can be retrieved

Issue of disappearing messages arose during the UK covid-19 Inquiry, where a senior civil servant who worked with Boris Johnson was found to have turned on the function a month before the probe was announced

Former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson with prime minister Keir Starmer during a visit to Washington in September 2025 File picture: Carl Court/PA

Messages relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US may have been lost because of a commonly used “disappearing messages” setting on WhatsApp, the government has indicated.

Cabinet Office minister Chris Ward said he did not know whether communications could have been recovered if they have been automatically deleted by the feature on the widely-used messaging app.