William Wragg escapes Tory punishment for leaking phone numbers as Met Police launch investigation
Mr Wragg is unlikely to lose his seat or the party whip, sources tell The Independent
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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 ānumberā 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: āThey had compromising things on me.ā
Mr Hunt, the chancellor, has now backed Mr Wragg, praising him for his ācourageous and fulsomeā apology after the MP also told The Times he was sorry for the āhurtā that he had caused. Treasury minister Gareth Davies said that Mr Wragg had ārightly apologisedā and that he would maintain the party whip.
![William Wragg has apologised for his āweaknessā after admitting leaking his colleaguesā phone numbers](https://static.the-independent.com/2024/04/04/21/newFile-2.jpg)
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 āpractical thingā, adding: āThe last thing you want is a by-election when thereās going to be a general election in six months anyway and heās already said heās standing down ... I think if he wasnāt going to go at the general election it might be a different issue.ā
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 āchallengesā facing Mr Wragg, he added that it is ānever okay to be sharing personal mobile numbers with strangersā.
The Labour London mayor said: āI think itās now at a stage where, as a legislator, he should resign. I think thereās also a question about Rishi Sunakās judgement.ā
Mr Khan told Politico: āRishi Sunak is the leader of the Conservative party and the prime minister.
āSecurity is the number one priority of all responsible politicians. It could well be that the security of individual parliamentarians, individual staff members ā¦ the security of parliament has been compromised ā¦ [Mr Wraggās] got to go.ā
Police are investigating the leaks.
Labourās shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the ārevelationsā that William Wragg had been blackmailed into sharing colleaguesā phone numbers were āincredibly concerningā, but said whether he should resign or not was āa question for the Conservativesā.
One Labour MP suggested that Mr Wragg may wish to consider referring himself to the Standards commissioner for investigation, telling The Independent that āit would be the classy thing to doā.
Anyone can make a complaint about an MPās 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 Conservativesā 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 Wraggās 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 āCharlieā or āAbiā 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 ācompromising things on meā.
![Conservative MP Scott Benton resigned, triggering a by-election in Blackpool South](https://static.the-independent.com/2024/03/25/15/d97fe1a16ee313f76915467e3a85d445Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzExNDY1Nzcy-2.74855118.jpg)
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: āOfficers from the Metās 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.
āWe are working closely with other forces and are in contact with colleagues in Parliamentary Security, who are providing support and advice around anyone affected.ā
Mr Wragg, 36, who is gay, told The Times: āThey had compromising things on me. They wouldnāt leave me alone. They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. Heās manipulated me and now Iāve hurt other people.
āI got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didnāt. Then he started asking for numbers of people.
āI was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesnāt work now.ā
The MP for Hazel Grove added: āIāve hurt people by being weak. I was scared. Iām mortified. Iām so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt.ā
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 āCharlieā.
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: āThe 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.ā
He added: āIām just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and itās now being looked into.ā
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 āmaliciousā cyberattacks, including one on Britainās 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 ācrude enough to be the Russiansā and that āthe Chinese tend to be more sophisticatedā. He added: āIām hoping [Wragg] hasnāt handed over my number. It sounds like a gay honeytrap.ā
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also told the Daily Mail that the attacks were likely Russian and urged authorities to increase security: āWeāve been slow to protect people... the government and security services have got to get on with it.
āThis is an assault on parliamentary democracy but everyone is scared stiff of calling out foreign agents.ā
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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments