A senior Conservative MP who admitted his role in a honeytrap sexting scandal will escape immediate punishment as senior colleague Jeremy Hunt moved to publicly back him.
William Wragg is unlikely to lose his seat or be forced to sit as an independent MP, sources say, at least while the party investigates his role. On Friday night, the Metropolitan police confirmed they had launched a probe into a “number” of unsolicited messages sent to MPs.
Mr Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, admitted he had leaked the personal phone numbers of his colleagues to an individual he met on Grindr, after sending them intimate pictures of himself and becoming concerned about the power the recipient had over him as a result. He told The Times: “They had compromising things on me.”
Mr Hunt, the chancellor, has now backed Mr Wragg, praising him for his “courageous and fulsome” apology after the MP also told The Times he was sorry for the “hurt” that he had caused. Treasury minister Gareth Davies said that Mr Wragg had “rightly apologised” and that he would maintain the party whip.
MPs have told The Independent that the party is keen not to manoeuvre against Mr Wragg, who is the vice-chair of the 1922 Committee, in case it triggers an investigation that leads to another by-election.
One Tory MP said the decision to allow Mr Wragg to keep the whip was a “practical thing”, adding: “The last thing you want is a by-election when there’s going to be a general election in six months anyway and he’s already said he’s standing down ... I think if he wasn’t going to go at the general election it might be a different issue.”
Neither Labour nor the Lib Dems have called for the party to suspend Mr Wragg. But while Sadiq Khan said he was sympathetic to the “challenges” facing Mr Wragg, he added that it is “never okay to be sharing personal mobile numbers with strangers”.
The Labour London mayor said: “I think it’s now at a stage where, as a legislator, he should resign. I think there’s also a question about Rishi Sunak’s judgement.”
Mr Khan told Politico: “Rishi Sunak is the leader of the Conservative party and the prime minister.
“Security is the number one priority of all responsible politicians. It could well be that the security of individual parliamentarians, individual staff members … the security of parliament has been compromised … [Mr Wragg’s] got to go.”
Police are investigating the leaks.
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the “revelations” that William Wragg had been blackmailed into sharing colleagues’ phone numbers were “incredibly concerning”, but said whether he should resign or not was “a question for the Conservatives”.
One Labour MP suggested that Mr Wragg may wish to consider referring himself to the Standards commissioner for investigation, telling The Independent that “it would be the classy thing to do”.
Anyone can make a complaint about an MP’s conduct to the commissioner, who will then conduct an investigation and make recommendations to parliament.
Such recommendations could include a suspension, which could trigger a by-election.
Mr Wragg has already announced he will not be contesting his seat in Greater Manchester at the next election. He has a majority of 4,423.
A recent string of dire by-election results have cast a shadow over the Conservatives’ prospects at the next general election.
The 2023 Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth by-elections saw the Labour Party overturn majorities of over 20,000 to win seats from the Tories.
The party is poised for yet another likely by-election loss as Blackpool South prepares to vote for a new MP in May, following the resignation of Conservative MP Scott Benton after he broke lobbying rules.
Mr Wragg’s revelations came as Politico revealed a wide-reaching honeytrap scandal across Westminster, which saw MPs, members of their staff, and a political journalist receive unsolicited flirtatious texts from senders calling themselves “Charlie” or “Abi” in a suspected spear phishing attack. Spear phishing is a type of targeted online sting.
Speaking to The Times, Mr Wragg admitted he provided some contact details to the unknown number after he feared the man had “compromising things on me”.
It is understood that two MPs responded by sending an explicit image of themselves, with the scandal now the subject of an investigation by the Metropolitan police, Leicestershire police and the parliamentary security service.
On Friday night, the Met police said in a statement: “Officers from the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command are carrying out an investigation following reports that a number of unsolicited messages were sent to MPs over recent months.
“We are working closely with other forces and are in contact with colleagues in Parliamentary Security, who are providing support and advice around anyone affected.”
Mr Wragg, 36, who is gay, told The Times: “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.
“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.”
The MP for Hazel Grove added: “I’ve hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I’m mortified. I’m so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt.”
Politico revealed that MPs were sent late-night texts from an unknown sender, who claimed to have met them years ago in a bar.
Soon afterwards, they were sent an explicit image and asked to reciprocate. While many were said to have blocked “Charlie”.
Among those targeted was Conservative MP for Bosworth, Dr Luke Evans, who said he was the first to alert police and Commons authorities. In a video posted to Facebook on Friday, he 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.”
He added: “I’m just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and it’s now being looked into.”
The new claims are stoking renewed fears around espionage and targeted foreign-state attacks on the UK democratic system.
In March, the UK slapped sanctions on China after it accused state-backed hackers of carrying out two “malicious” cyberattacks, including one on Britain’s election watchdog and another on Conservative politicians.
In September 2023, a researcher at parliament was arrested under the Official Secrets Act, amid claims he was spying for China. The Sunday Times reported that the researcher had access to security minister Tom Tugendhat and foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns, among other high-profile people.
Tory MP and staunch China hawk Bob Seely told Newsnight that he suspected the sting to be from a foreign state, stating that it was “crude enough to be the Russians” and that “the Chinese tend to be more sophisticated”. He added: “I’m hoping [Wragg] hasn’t handed over my number. It sounds like a gay honeytrap.”
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also told the Daily Mail that the attacks were likely Russian and urged authorities to increase security: “We’ve been slow to protect people... the government and security services have got to get on with it.
“This is an assault on parliamentary democracy but everyone is scared stiff of calling out foreign agents.”
Mr Wragg was approached by the newspaper after MPs and other parliamentary figures confided in each other about their concerns and their suspicion of his involvement. The Independent has approached Mr Wragg for comment.
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