A senior Tory MP has quit top party and Commons jobs after revealing he gave away colleagues phone numbers after being honeytrapped on a gay dating app.
William Wragg has reportedly stepped down as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee, the backbench Conservative organisation, and as chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC).
The MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester admitted last week that he had given his colleagues’ phone numbers away to a Grindr contact for fear of intimate images of himself being leaked.
Scotland Yard has said it is investigating reports of the so-called ‘honeytrap’ scam after it was suggested that at least 12 men in political circles – including journalists – received unsolicited messages, raising security concerns.
It came as Mr Wragg was criticised by more of his Tory colleagues for his actions, amid some calls for him to be suspended by the party.
Speaking on GB News, former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘William Wragg, who is at the centre of a storm … has always been willing, in his glass house, to throw stones when people have fallen below his high standards.
‘So the question arises of how much sympathy does he deserve for falling for a pretty obvious honey trap, sending deeply insalubrious photographs over the internet, and then revealing telephone numbers that he held as a matter of trust for other politicians?’
It comes after MP William Wragg admitted passing on phone numbers of MPs due to fears about blackmail
Mr Wragg said last week he was sorry for his ‘weakness’ in responding, an apology which was praised as ‘courageous and fulsome’ by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
But pressure has mounted in recent days amid concerns over parliamentary security, with critics from across the political divide questioning his behaviour.
Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns branded Mr Wragg an ‘idiot’ for ‘compromising security’ as she revealed she had also been targeted with a spear-phishing text.
‘I too received the WhatsApp & reported it,’ she said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
‘It was worded identical mentioning ‘Conference’. 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. Action is needed!’
Following Mr Wragg’s revelations in The Times newspaper, Conservative MP for Bosworth Luke Evans claimed he was the victim of “cyber flashing” and was the member who first alerted police to the issue.
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In a video posted to Facebook on Friday, Dr 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.”
The unknown scammer is said to have used the aliases “Charlie” and “Abi” while sending flirtatious messages to coax MPs into sending over explicit pictures.
A BBC journalist revealed yesterday that he too was targeted in the Westminster sexting honeytrap scandal.
Henry Zeffman, the corporation’s chief political correspondent, went public about being contacted in a so-called ‘spear phishing’ attempt over WhatsApp.
He was the second journalist in as many days to reveal that they were targeted after Harry Yorke, a journalist at The Sunday Times, also said he received flirtatious messages from a WhatsApp user calling themselves ‘Charlie’.
Mr Zeffman broke his silence yesterday by writing about his experience for the BBC’s website, revealing he was contacted by both ‘Abi’ and ‘Charlie’.
He wrote: ‘It started with a WhatsApp on a Sunday morning in March. Coming from a number I did not have saved in my phone, it read: ‘Henry! Long time no speak – how’re you doing? Miss seeing you around Westminster x.’
‘V sorry,’ I replied. ‘Who is this?’ The response was instant. ‘Haha it’s Charlie! I used to work in Parliament and we swapped numbers after drinking one night.’
Henry Zeffman was the second journalist in as many days to reveal that they were targeted
Scotland Yard yesterday said it has launched an inquiry into the scandal (Stock Image)
Mr Zeffman said he found the messages odd and did not reply, only to get another message a few minutes later saying: ‘Random Sunday message I know.’
Then ‘Charlie’, within minutes, added: ‘I’m going to guess you aren’t still single – should I bow out gracefully? Lucky girl x.’
He blocked the sender. However, around 24 hours later another message arrived in his WhatsApp inbox from ‘Abi’.
Mr Zeffman wrote: ‘Instantly I was sure this was the same person as the day before.’
‘Who is this?’ I replied. ‘Abi Miller x.’ They claimed to have previously been an intern at The Times, where I worked until last year.’
Mr Zeffman said he was ‘flustered’ and also blocked this sender.
Scotland Yard yesterday said it has launched an inquiry into the scandal.
The force said its Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command was ‘carrying out an investigation following reports that a number of unsolicited messages were sent to MPs over recent months’.
It is the second force to investigate the scandal after Leicestershire Police announced on Thursday that it had received a report of ‘malicious communications’ involving a local MP.