{"id":416666,"date":"2026-02-09T19:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416666\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:34:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:34:51","slug":"wes-streeting-offers-to-show-mps-his-messages-with-peter-mandelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416666\/","title":{"rendered":"Wes Streeting offers to show MPs his messages with Peter Mandelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wes Streeting has told Labour MPs he is prepared to show them all of his WhatsApp messages with Lord Mandelson as allies said he had \u201cnothing to hide\u201d about his relationship with the peer.<\/p>\n

The health secretary is keen to address concerns MPs have that he is \u201cclose\u201d to Mandelson, and has made the offer as delays in the disclosure of documents about the peer\u2019s appointment as ambassador to Washington continue.<\/p>\n

Streeting\u2019s allies are concerned that the delay is fuelling damaging speculation about his ties Mandelson.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Keir Starmer latest: follow live<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Labour<\/p>\n

Mandelson, left, with Labour MPs, including Wes Streeting, right, during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool in 2023<\/p>\n

MATT CROSSICK\/EMPICS\/ALAMY<\/p>\n

They say there are only \u201ca handful of exchanges\u201d between the two and have accused Streeting<\/a>\u2019s rivals of weaponising the Epstein scandal to hurt him.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mandelson got five-figure payoff for sacking as ambassador<\/a><\/p>\n

Supporters of Angela Rayner<\/a>, and others on the left of the party, have claimed Streeting is close to Mandelson and has been \u201ctainted\u201d by the scandal around him. The pair are seen as the two frontrunners in a contest to succeed Starmer.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner before Labour\u2019s general election win in summer 2024. They are seen as the two potential candidates to replace Starmer<\/p>\n

JON SUPER\/AP<\/p>\n

Last week the government was forced to commit to releasing all documents and messages related to the appointment of Mandelson<\/a> as ambassador. Ministers are being asked to hand over details of their exchanges with Mandelson while he was in the role, including WhatsApp messages, emails, texts and voice notes. <\/p>\n

But the \u201chuge\u201d number of documents and a requirement, forced by MPs, for parliament to have oversight over publication, has meant it is taking longer to release.<\/p>\n

As a result, Streeting has made it clear to Labour MPs that he is open to requests to show his messages with Mandelson privately \u2014 without waiting for the official disclosure \u2014 if those MPs ask to see them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has nothing to hide,\u201d a supporter said.<\/p>\n

\u2022 What happens if Keir Starmer resigns?<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week Streeting said \u201cwhat Peter Mandelson did was totally wrong\u201d and accused him of a \u201cbetrayal of the country and the national interest\u201d. He also called Mandelson \u201cstupid, irresponsible and reckless\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the prime minister had been \u201cswift and decisive\u201d after the initial tranche of messages between Mandelson and Epstein<\/a> was released in September.<\/p>\n

A source close to Streeting said: \u201cWes isn\u2019t at all worried about the publication of messages. There\u2019s only a handful of exchanges. People who are claiming they were very close are going to be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speculation over a leadership challenge is at fever pitch, and rival camps have been keen to highlight Streeting\u2019s links to Mandelson.<\/p>\n

\u2022 MPs \u2018lending staff to work on Streeting\u2019s leadership campaign\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Allies of Rayner believe she has a window of opportunity to seize the leadership. They say Streeting, her main rival, is weakened by his links to Mandelson. \u201cWes is tainted, he can\u2019t run until the dust settles on this,\u201d one said. <\/p>\n

They point to a social media post in which Streeting described Mandelson as a \u201clegend\u201d on the 2019 election campaign, and press reports describing him as close to the peer.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Wes Streeting\u2019s mother, Corrina, Peter Mandelson as they campaigned in Ilford North during the 2015 general election<\/p>\n

TIM STEWART<\/p>\n

Some Rayner allies increasingly say that even if her HMRC tax probe<\/a> is not concluded she will still run to replace Starmer. Others describe that as a dangerous move, adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t know what HMRC could say.\u201d Critics say a tilt at leadership before the tax matter is settled would be \u201ccareless\u201d.<\/p>\n

But a senior Labour MP told The Times: \u201cSomebody\u2019s going to have to make a move. The worst thing for them is if they don\u2019t make a move, they just wither on the vine. It\u2019s damaging the country and the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others insisted that Starmer should be made to \u201cown\u201d the local election and by-election results.<\/p>\n

One MP said: \u201cNobody with a brain wants to come in and be blamed for losing the by-election.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is still unclear if anyone is ready to make the first move, either by sending in the list of 80 MPs needed to trigger a challenge or by orchestrating a set of cabinet resignations. \u201cThey keep putting these roadblocks in front of Keir and watch him stumble over them,\u201d one MP said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wes Streeting has told Labour MPs he is prepared to show them all of his WhatsApp messages with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-416666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}