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Senior MP William Wragg has resigned the Conservative whip after he admitted giving politicians’ phone numbers to a suspected scammer.
The party’s whips office said he was “voluntarily relinquishing the Conservative whip” after he had already stepped back from his roles as vice-chair of the backbench 1922 Committee and chair of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee.
The Hazel Grove MP had previously announced his intention to leave parliament at the next election and will now sit as an independent.
Mr Wragg admitted last week that he had given colleagues’ phone numbers to someone on a dating app amid fears that intimate images of himself would be leaked after he was targeted in a parliamentary sexting scam.
Speaking to The Times, the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee said he provided the contact details to the unknown number after he feared the man had “compromising things on me”.
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”.
The MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester 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 originally reported on the scandal, revealing that MPs were sent late-night texts from an unknown sender, who claimed to have met them years ago in a bar.
The sender sent political journalists, MPs and staff explicit images and asked to reciprocate. While many were said to have blocked “Charlie”, The Times reported that two MPs did respond with an explicit image of themselves.
The Metropolitan Police has now launched a formal investigation into the messages sent to MPs, after the force confirmed on Monday that officers from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command are carrying out a probe into “unsolicited messages” sent to a number of MPs.
The full investigation comes after last week the force said it was assessing reports and is in contact with colleagues at Leicester Police, which is also investigating “malicious communications” sent to a Leicestershire MP.
The investigation is not thought to involve the security services.
Pressure has mounted in recent days amid concerns over parliamentary security, with critics from across the political divide questioning Mr Wragg’s behaviour.
Conservative MP Conor Burns slammed Mr Wragg as “reckless, selfish and thoughtless”, while Labour former shadow minister Jess Phillips questioned why an MP would send “nude images”.
But the Independent was told by party sources that William Wragg was unlikely to lose his seat or be forced to sit as an independent MP at least while the party investigates his role, following support by ministers such as Jeremy Hunt and treasury minister Gareth Davies.
Source: independent.co.uk
