Tory MP Resigns From Committees Over Honey Trap Sexting Scandal

William Wragg, chairman of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, speaks during a committee meeting in the House of Commons, London, on Jan. 20, 2022. Parliament TV/PA

An MP has stepped down from two parliamentary positions, including the influential Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, after admitting to sharing phone numbers of politicians with an individual he met on a gay dating app.

As the honey trap scandal involving William Wragg continues to shake Westminster, on Tuesday, a spokesman for Sir Graham Brady MP told The Epoch Times by email: “It is correct that Mr. Wragg has stood down as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee.”

The 1922 Committee is an influential group of backbench Conservative members of Parliament who discuss party matters, policies, and concerns.

Blackmailed

Mr. Wragg, 36, told The Times Of London newspaper last week that he had sent intimate photographs of himself to a stranger he met on Grindr, a gay dating app, but feared he was about to be blackmailed, so he handed over the personal phone numbers of colleagues.

Mr. Wragg has also stepped back from his role heading the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC).

Mr. Wragg said he was sorry for his “weakness” in responding. At the time his apology was praised as “courageous and fulsome” by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, however political pressure increased in recent days amid security concerns.

‘They Wouldn’t Leave Me Alone’

After he was targeted in the parliamentary sexting scam, Mr. Wragg told the publication: “They had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people.”

Mr. Wragg explained: “I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn’t. Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn’t work now.”

On Monday, Politico reported that a number of MPs and journalists had been contacted on WhatsApp by individuals pretending to be either a man or a woman, in an attempt to acquire personal or sensitive information.

Scotland Yard has said it is investigating reports of the “honey trap” scam after it was suggested that at least 12 men in political circles received similar messages, raising security concerns.

The unknown scammer is said to have used the aliases “Charlie” and “Abi” while sending messages to coax MPs into sending over explicit pictures.

In a video posted to Facebook on Friday, Conservative MP Luke Evans said: “The first set of messages I got was on a day I was with my wife, and I got a one-time open photo on WhatsApp of an explicit image of a naked lady. As soon as I got these, the next day I reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip.

“Ten days later I got another set of messages. This time, however, I was sitting with my team in the constituency office, so we were able to record the conversation and catch photos and videos of the messages coming through including another explicit female image,” he added.

‘Unforgivable’

Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, said that what Mr Wragg did was “unforgivable” and said she had also been targeted in a bid to get her information.

“I too received the WhatsApp and reported it,” she wrote in a post on X .

“Unlike some MPs I am not happy with Wragg as a mother with a young child who only recently had threats, it’s unforgivable of him to compromise the security of fellow MPs,” she added.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Mr. Wragg but has not yet received a response.

PA Media and Chris Summers contributed to this report.