Streeting and Mandelson met with executives of Murdoch empire prior to election
Today’s document dump revealed details of a secret meeting between Wes Streeting, Lord Mandelson and key figures in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
The ex-health secretary and US ambassador attended a dinner along with Lachlan Murdoch, the mogul’s son, and a number of other executives before 2024’s general election.
Mandelson told Streeting in a text message afterwards that ‘Lachlan really enjoyed the dinner’ and ‘they all thought everyone in great form’.
Streeting replied: ‘The highlight of the evening was you pulling out The Times app and ribbing Tony (Gallagher, editor of The Times).’
The sacked peer then joked: ‘These people have to be kept on their toes,’ to which Streeting gushed: ‘It was masterfully done.’
Questions have since been raised about why Streeting failed to include the exchange in the WhatsApp messages he published back in February.
Allies of the Labour figure have however explained this by noting that Streeting published communications starting from six months before Mandelson started his role as ambassador in February 2025.
Murdoch owns The Times and The Sun newspapers in Britain, as well as a host of titles in the US and Australia.
