Boris Johnson's WhatsApps will be returned as old unlocked phone after 'forgetting' pin

The disgraced ex-Prime Minister was unable to provide all of his messages because he had forgotten the passcode for his old mobile phone

Boris Johnson said he was 'pleased that technical experts have now successfully retrieved all relevant messages from the device'

Boris Johnson's unanalyzed WhatsApp messages will eventually be handed over to the Covid inquiry after tech experts unlock his phone.

The apparent breakthrough yesterday came after the disgraced ex-Prime Minister was ordered to stop using the device on security grounds in 2021.

It was then reported last week that Mr Johnson had forgotten the passcode to his old phone, which the bereaved Covid families called a ‘complete joke’.

After losing a messy legal battle to prevent the release, the Cabinet Office has already handed over the unredacted notebooks, diaries and some of his WhatsApps of the former Tory leader of his time at No 10 to Baroness Heather Hallett's inquest.

But officials were unable to provide WhatsApp dating from January 2020 to May 2021 - a vital period in the UK's response to the Covid pandemic.

Records covering the first 16 months of the Covid crisis had not been handed over as Mr Johnson changed phones in May 2021 due to security concerns afterwards.

It appeared that his number had been available for free online for 15 years.

But a spokesman for the former Prime Minister said on Friday: 'Boris Johnson is pleased that technical experts have now successfully retrieved all relevant messages from the device.

"As repeatedly stated, it will now deliver this material in unreacted form to the inquiry."

They added: "The Inquiry process requires that a security check of this material is now carried out by the Cabinet Office. The timing of any further progress in delivery to the Inquiry is therefore under the control of the Cabinet Office.

"It has always been true that Boris Johnson passed this material on to the inquest and did everything possible to help recover it.

"A careful Inquiry-approved process was followed to ensure this was successful."