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Jenrick adds hundreds to WhatsApp group in mix-up

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter
PA Media Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick speaking to the media outside outside the Old Bailey in central London.PA Media

Hundreds of Westminster insiders were added to - and then swiftly deleted from - a WhatsApp group set up by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick to promote his London Marathon run.

The mishap was laughed off by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who revealed that she too had briefly been a member of the chat along with senior journalists, former cabinet and other Tory MPs.

The BBC has been told Jenrick is not referring himself to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which investigates data breaches.

A source said the ICO did not need to be involved because the s had been added to the group for "personal purposes" and the risk of malicious use was low.

The ICO told BBC News that data protection law did not apply to the use of personal information for "domestic and household" purposes.

But it said if "non-corporate communication channels" - such as WhatsApp groups - were being used for "professional purposes", data protection law would apply.

A source said Jenrick had announced he was running in the London Marathon and "in a technical mix-up, a message designed for broadcast turned into a group chat".

All of the s - which are believed to include former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Therese Coffey among others - have been removed from the group and the chat has been deleted.

When asked if she had been added to the group chat, Badenoch laughed before replying: "Yes and then no, I think is the correct answer to that."

"I think he's running a marathon," Badenoch added. "I don't really understand yet what happened with the WhatsApp group."

The BBC understands Jenrick's intention was to send messages about his marathon run individually to friends and colleagues in Westminster, in an attempt to raise money for charity.

In a post on X, Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf said Jenrick had appeared to add "his entire book" to the group chat.

"He's now spending his morning deleting hundreds of them," Yusuf posted.

In reply to that post, Jenrick wrote: "Feeling left out again, Zia":[]}