Honeytrap scandal MP resigns Tory whip but delays ‘undermine Sunak’
THE senior Conservative MP at the centre of the Westminster sexting honeytrap scandal last night gave up the party whip.
William Wragg made the move amid pressure on the Tory leadership to boot him out after he passed on phone numbers of fellow MPs who were then targeted.
Mr Wragg also stepped down from his influential roles as chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) and vice-chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.
However, Labour and some Tory MPs claimed Rishi Sunak’s failure to act undermined his position as Prime Minister.
One senior Tory said: ‘Wragg’s decided to sack himself, which is a joke. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt called him “courageous” for admitting to his behaviour the other day but at best he was naive. It’s a shame Rishi didn’t realise that sooner but he’s so weak.’
Labour frontbencher Pat McFadden said: ‘The fact it was left to Wragg to resign is another indictment of Rishi Sunak’s weakness. His MPs were left yet again being sent out to defend a position that has collapsed.’
The move means Mr Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester, will sit as an Independent.
He has already announced he will step down at the general election.
Tory party chairman Richard Holden last night said Mr Wragg was right to give up the whip.
Asked if he was ‘pushed or jumped’, Mr Holden said: ‘He’s made his decision. It’s quite clear his career in public life is at an end.’
A clip has emerged from 2022 with Mr Wragg telling MPs, while chair of PACAC, that colleagues being blackmailed should report this to police and the Commons Speaker. However, he is initially understood to have done neither of these.
Last week he admitted he had provided contact details of people targeted by honey-trappers, after sending intimate pictures to a man he met on gay dating app, Grindr.
He reportedly said he was ‘scared’ and apologised for ‘being weak’.