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MP William Wragg has ‘voluntarily’ given up the Conservative whip after he admitted giving his colleagues’ phone numbers to a suspected scammer, a spokesperson for the Tory whips has said.
‘Following Will Wragg’s decision to step back from his roles on the Public Accounts and 1922 committees, he has also notified the Chief Whip that he is voluntarily relinquishing the Conservative Whip,’ the spokesperson said.
Last week, the Member of Parliament for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester told The Times he had been targeted by a suspected honeytrap plot, admitting to ‘chatting to a guy on an app’ and exchanging pictures.
He told the newspaper he had given out numbers of fellow members of Parliament to someone he had met on Grindr, a gay dating app, and admitted he was scared the man ‘had compromising things on me’,
Police are now investigating reports explicit images and flirtatious texts were sent to multiple MPs in what is believed to be a ‘spear-phishing’ attack and a deliberate attempt to compromise Westminster.
William Wragg MP, member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Hazel Grove, speaking at the Grassroots Out campaign event in Manchester, February 5 2016
The former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee spoke to The Times on Friday, admitting he shared colleagues private contact details after sharing intimate pictures of himself online.
Since then, POLITICO has claimed to have verified that ‘at least 20 people in UK politics’ have been sent unsolicited WhatsApp messages by numbers linked to both the Westminster ‘honeytrap’ plot and a second alleged targeting aimed at Lib Dem conferencegoers first reported by The Express.
Luke Evans, MP for Bosworth, and Andrea Jenkyns, MP for Morley and Outwood, have also since said publicly that they have received suspicious messages.
Mr Wragg stepped down from the role of vice-chair of the 1922 Committee on Monday evening, and told the Speaker he would resign as chair of another Commons committee he sits on in light of the scandal.
Speaking to The Times last week, he acknowledged fault, saying he was ‘so sorry my weakness has caused other people hurt’.
‘We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn’t,’ he explained. ‘Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me.
‘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 remains MP for his constituency.
