MP William Wragg has “voluntarily” given up the Conservative whip after he admitted giving his colleagues’ phone numbers to a suspected scammer he met on a dating app, a spokesperson for the Tory whips has said.
Mr Wragg will no longer sit as a Conservative MP following the decision, which comes after he resigned as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee and from his role heading the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC).
The MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester had previously announced his intention to leave Parliament at the next election and will now sit as an Independent.
A spokesperson for the Conservative whips’ office said on Tuesday: “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.”
Mr Wragg admitted last week that he had given colleagues’ phone numbers to someone on a dating app amid fears intimate images of him would be leaked, after he was targeted in a parliamentary sexting scam.
Scotland Yard has said it is investigating reports of the so-called “honey trap” scam after it was suggested at least 12 men in political circles received unsolicited messages, raising security concerns.
The incident has been met with backlash from other MPs.
After Mr Wragg’s revelations in The Times, Luke Evans, Conservative MP for Bosworth, claimed he had been the victim of “cyber flashing” and was the member who alerted police to the issue.
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 explicit pictures.
Mr Wragg said 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 Mr Wragg’s behaviour.
Speaking on GB News, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mr Wragg had “always been willing to throw stones” at others and asked whether he should keep his parliamentary roles after falling for a “pretty obvious honey trap”.
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 wrote 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!”
Mr Wragg has been approached by the Standard for a comment.
