Former British prime minister Boris Johnson will hand over WhatsApp messages from his old mobile phone to the Covid-19 Inquiry in the UK after technical experts managed to recover them, his spokesman has said.
Mr Johnson was told to stop using the device over security concerns after it emerged that his number had been online for years.
He then reportedly forgot the passcode.
The probe into the Johnson administration's management of the pandemic had demanded to see messages dating from the height of lockdown.
But a spokesman said that the former Conservative Party MP was "pleased that technical experts have now successfully recovered all relevant messages from the device".
"As repeatedly stated, he will now deliver this material in unredacted form to the inquiry," the spokesman added in a statement.
"The inquiry process requires that a security check of this material is now made by the Cabinet Office. The timing of any further progress on delivery to the inquiry is therefore under the Cabinet Office's control".
"It was always the case that Boris Johnson would pass this material to the inquiry and do everything possible to help it be recovered", the spokesman claimed.
"A careful process approved by the inquiry has been followed to ensure that this was successful."
Mr Johnson was advised to stop using the phone and not access it again on security grounds while serving as prime minister in May 2021.
It emerged that his number had been freely available online for 15 years.
He used the device during crucial periods of the pandemic and it should contain messages relating to the ordering of three lockdowns in 2020.
Ministers had attempted to prevent handing over Mr Johnson's notebooks, WhatsApp messages and diaries to the inquiry.
But the government lost when the inquiry took the case to the High Court.
