A senior Conservative MP has admitted leaking MPs phone numbers in a honeytrap sexting scandal.
MP for Hazel Grove, William Wragg admitted to The Times that he gave over the numbers of colleagues to someone he met on Grindr, a gay dating app.
Those colleagues are reported to be several MPs as well as a government minister, members of their staff and a political journalist.
They were allegedly sent unsolicited flirtatious messages from senders identifying themselves as “Charlie” or “Abi”.
It is understood two MPs responded to the messages by sending an explicit picture of themselves.
Mr Wragg said he provided the details after sending intimate pictures of himself to the man and that he was “scared” because he possessed compromising things about him.
Mr Wragg, who is the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee, told the paper: “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.
“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.”
i has has contacted Mr Wragg for comment.
Mr Wragg’s revelations comes after Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, announced today he has held talks with parliamentary staff following the suspected sexting honeytrap attacks.
It is understood at least 12 men working in and around Parliament, including a serving minister, were targeted in the scandal.
“Charlie” is understood to have claimed he used to work in Parliament and bragged that they had sex with several Conservative and Labour MPs.
When one MP asked who he worked for, “Charlie” allegedly said he had done an internship with Mr Wragg in 2022.
MPs are understood to have been sent late-night texts from an unknown number, and the sender would explain they had met years ago, on several occasions claiming they met in parliamentary bars.
The phone number which sent the message is said to have had a profile picture featuring a man in a white T-shirt having a meal with a woman in a blue and white dress.
Male MPs targeted by “Charlie” were also sent messages from a number which had a profile picture showing a man dressed in a white T-shirt in what appeared to be a bar.
It is claimed Mr Wragg’s connection to the scandal emerged on Wednesday after MPs discussed it.
