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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Harry Taylor

Government unsure if deleted Peter Mandelson WhatsApp messages can be retrieved

Former British ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to Washington in September 2025 (PA/Carl Court) - (PA Wire)

Messages relating to Lord 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.

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