William Wragg escapes punishment after leaking phone numbers as Jeremy Hunt backs him

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A senior Conservative MP who admitted his position in a honeytrap sexting scandal will escape speedy punishment as senior colleague Jeremy Hunt moved to publicly again him.

William Wragg is unlikely to lose his seat or be pressured to sit down as an unbiased MP, sources say, at the least whereas the social gathering investigates his position.

Mr Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, admitted he had leaked the non-public phone numbers of his colleagues to a person he met on Grindr, after turning into involved concerning the energy the recipient had over him since he had despatched intimate footage of himself.

Mr Hunt, the chancellor, has now backed Mr Wragg, praising him for his “courageous and fulsome” apology after the MP informed the Times he was sorry for the “hurt” that he had brought on. Treasury minister Gareth Davies additionally stated that Mr Wragg has “rightly apologised” and that he’ll preserve the social gathering whip.

MPs have informed the Independent that the social gathering is eager to not manoeuvre in opposition to the 1922 committee vice-chairman in case it triggers an investigation that results in one other by-election.

One Tory MP stated the choice to permit Mr Wragg to maintain the whip was a “practical thing”, including: “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 referred to as for the social gathering to droop Mr Wragg. Police are investigating the leaks.

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves stated the “revelations” that William Wragg had been blackmailed into sharing colleagues’ phone numbers had been “incredibly concerning”, however stated whether or not he ought to resign was “a question for the Conservatives”.

One Labour MP urged that Mr Wragg might want to think about referring himself to the Standards commissioner for investigation, telling The Independent: “it would be the classy thing to do”.

Anyone could make a criticism about an MP’s conduct to the commissioner, who will then conduct an investigation and make suggestions to parliament.

Such suggestions might embody a suspension, which might set off a by-election.

Mr Wragg has already introduced he won’t be contesting his seat on the subsequent election and at present defends a 4,423 seat majority.

A latest string of dire by-election outcomes have forged a shadow over the Conservative’s prospects on the subsequent common election as the Tories have skilled main losses.

The 2023 Mid Bedforshire and Tamworth by-elections noticed the Labour social gathering overturn majorities of over 20,000 to win seats from the Tories.

The social gathering is poised for one more seemingly by-election loss as Blackpool prepares to vote for a brand new MP in May, following the resignation of Conservative MP Scott Benton after he broke lobbying guidelines.

Mr Wragg’s revelations come as Politico revealed a wide-reaching honey lure scandal throughout Westminster, which noticed MPs, members of their workers, and a political journalist despatched unsolicited flirtatious texts from senders calling themselves “Charlie” or “Abi” in a suspected spear phishing assault. Spear phishing is a kind of focused on-line sting.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Wragg – who’s the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee – admitted he supplied some contact particulars to the unknown quantity after he feared the person had “compromising things on me”.

It is known that two MPs responded by sending an express picture of themselves, with the scandal now the topic of an investigation by the Metropolitan police, Leicestershire police and the parliamentary safety service.

Mr Wragg, 36, who’s homosexual, informed 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 had been despatched late-night texts from an unknown sender, who claimed to have met them years in the past in a bar.

Soon afterwards, they had been despatched an express picture and requested to reciprocate. While many had been stated to have blocked “Charlie”, The Times reported that two MPs did reply with an express picture of themselves.

The new claims are stoking renewed fears round espionage and focused foreign-state assaults on the UK democratic system.

In March the UK slapped sanctions on China after it accused state-backed hackers of finishing up two “malicious” cyberattacks, together with one on Britain’s election watchdog and one other on Conservative politicians.

In September 2023, a researcher at Parliament was arrested below the Official Secrets Act, amid claims he was spying for China. The Sunday Times reported that the researcher had entry to safety minister Tom Tugendhat and international affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, amongst different high-profile individuals.

Tory MP and staunch China hawk Bob Seely informed Newsnight that he suspected the sting to be from a international state, stating that it was “crude enough to be the Russians,” however 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 honey trap.”

Former Conservative chief Sir Iain Duncan Smith additionally informed the Daily Mail that the assaults had been seemingly Russian and urged authorities to extend safety: “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 different parliamentary figures confided in one another about their considerations and their suspicion of his involvement. The Independent has approached Mr Wragg for remark.