Keir Starmer’s right-hand man commiserated with Mandelson on the day he was sacked over Epstein, saying he was ‘so sorry’ to see him go

Leaked messages have revealed Keir Starmer’s right-hand man Peter Mandelson offered his condolences on the day he was sacked as US ambassador.

Darren Jones has told his disgraced peer he is ‘very sorry’ for being sacked over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Jones, who oversaw the release of the Mandelson files to parliament, told MPs he had exchanged messages with New Labour’s architect but no longer had access to them and so could not publish them.

But a series of damaging messages between the two men have now been leaked to Spectator magazine.

Lord Mandelson was sacked on September 11 last year following new revelations that he supported Epstein over his conviction for child sex offenses and urged him to fight for early release.

The Prime Minister said he was ‘angry’ at the Labor ambassador for ‘lying’ about the true extent of his relationship with the notorious pedophile.

But Mr Jones, who was promoted to the cabinet as the Prime Minister’s principal secretary just days ago, was quietly commiserating with the man who guided his career.

In a private WhatsApp message sent that day, he told her: ‘You are doing a great job and have done wonders with Trump. ‘I’m so sorry about today.’

Mr Jones apologized for his friendship with Mandelson but admitted it boosted his career

Mr Jones’s decision to praise Lord Mandelson following revelations about his sacking threatens to cause serious damage to the rising Labor star, who has touted himself as a possible successor to Sir Keir.

Other messages leaked to the Spectator magazine will spark awkward conversations among our Cabinet colleagues.

After meeting Rachel Reeves, Lord Mandelson sent a message to Mr Jones, stating that the Government’s growth plans were in the hands of the Chancellor, the then Deputy Chancellor Angela Rayner and the then trade minister Jonathan Reynolds.

Mr Jones, who was Ms Reeves’ deputy at the Treasury at the time, replied: ‘That doesn’t give you confidence.’

In another, he criticized members of Mr Reynolds’ team over negotiations over the Port Talbot steelworks, saying some had taken positions “because that’s what the unions want”.

In another discussion with Lord Mandelson about an expected reshuffle, Mr Jones said he was targeting Mr Reynolds’ job and added: ‘Everyone loves Jonny but thinks the DBT (Department for Business and Trade) is not running at full throttle.’

These messages were not included in the Mandelson files presented to parliament this week.

Mr Jones is understood to be one of several senior figures, alongside Sir Keir and Ms Reeves, who have used the disappearing messages function on their phones to automatically delete correspondence with Lord Mandelson and others.

He said on Wednesday that “the only other person who could release them is Mandelson, who has refused to hand over his phone to the parliamentary inquiry.”

As rumors of the leak spread in Westminster on Wednesday evening, Mr Jones made a cryptic apology for his friendship with Lord Mandelson and admitted it had boosted his career.

Tory frontbencher Alex Burghart told the Mail: ‘This makes a mockery of the government’s transparency process. Ministers apparently allowed the messages to be deleted but then allowed to be shown publicly. ‘This is ridiculous.’

In the House of Commons, former victims minister Alex Davies-Jones accused the government of siding with the powerful rather than with the survivors of Epstein’s abuse.

He read a powerful statement from US survivor Lisa Phillips, who slammed the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson ‘given his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has long been publicly known’.

Mr Jones later told MPs that he wanted to apologize for the intervention, out of friendship with his disgraced peer. He also offered to meet Ms Phillips and other victims who claimed they were rejected by the Prime Minister.

He told MPs: ‘Did I consciously ignore the stories that followed Peter Mandelson, indeed I knew many of them years ago? I don’t think I did.

‘Did I ever ignore the warnings given to me about Peter Mandelson? I didn’t receive any fee for this.

‘But when I reflect on (Ms Davies-Jones’s) speech, did I treat Peter Mandelson differently, subconsciously at best, because I believed he had influence and power within the Labor Party, and I think the answer to that question is yes.

‘Have I benefited from this relationship and my time as an elected politician? ‘I think the answer to that question is partly yes, I did, and I want to apologize to the House for that, to the victims, and commit them to do something about it.’

These revelations deal a potentially serious blow to his leadership ambitions.

They could also trigger allegations that the government is trying to cover up the full truth about the Mandelson scandal.

A number of ministers, including Sir Keir, are known to have had automatically deleted messages with Lord Mandelson, despite instructions from the Cabinet Office that ministers using disappearing messages should ensure this ‘does not impact on your record-keeping or transparency responsibilities’.

On Monday Mr Jones told MPs: ‘I remember having some limited conversations over WhatsApp with Peter Mandelson, including those I have previously discussed in the media, but these did not involve Government business and were in line with official guidance at the time on the use of non-institutional communication channels.’