William Wragg: Ex-Tory MP feels ‘enormous guilt’ over Westminster honeytrap scandal
A former Conservative MP has said he felt “enormous guilt” when he found out he was the victim of a Westminster honeytrap scandal.
William Wragg resigned from the parliamentary party in April after he admitted giving out fellow politicians’ phone numbers to the suspected perpetrator of the sexting scam.
He said he felt threatened and pressured by the “catfish” after exchanging explicit photos with them.
Mr Wragg divulged the numbers to what he thought was a real person on a dating app, amid fears that the intimate images of himself would be leaked.
The former Tory party whip said he first saw news articles about the scandal when he was on a train.
The 36-year-old told the BBC: “My stomach just dropped.
“When I found out some of the things that had been going on, I just felt enormous guilt, enormous remorse.”
After the former Hazel Grove MP handed over the personal information, the catfish told Mr Wragg to vouch for their identity with their next potential victims, with the catfish telling their fresh targets they were a former researcher for Mr Wragg.
Mr Wragg agreed and this is what he feels “the most regret for” as it was “deceitful”.
Pic: PA
Panic attacks
After he was allegedly blackmailed, Mr Wragg started having panic attacks, with instances of yelling, crying, and swearing shocking his sleeping flatmates.
Police are investigating the scandal with at least 12 men with links to Westminster believed to have received unsolicited messages from the aliases “Charlie” and “Abi”.
The fake accounts were allegedly part of the scam to get MPs and other people in politics to send explicit images and other private or sensitive information.
Unlike others who were approached by the catfish accounts, Mr Wragg approached “Charlie” himself after spotting the profile on gay dating app Grindr.
And he thought the account was a real person before exchanging explicit photos with the catfish.
Suicidal thoughts
When the scandal broke, the humiliation and shame became too much for Mr Wragg.
He recounted photographers and the media camped outside his parents’ house, which is where he went to as he began to have suicidal thoughts.
Shortly after receiving medical attention, he returned to Westminster to resign as Conservative whip and from his posts on two parliamentary committees.
He had already announced he would not run in the next general election.
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Man detained
In June, a member of the Labour Party aged in his mid-20s was apprehended in Islington, north London, on suspicion of harassment and offences under the Online Safety Act.
He has since been released on bail.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
Sir Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure over the small boats crisis after protests outside asylum hotels continued over the bank holiday weekend.
A poll suggested that voters believe the prime minister is failing to grip the problem, despite his government setting out measures to speed up removals.
It comes as Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer warned that “the far right feels emboldened and validated” by other political parties.
So far this year a record 28,076 people have made the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats, 46% more than in the same period in 2024.
Like many other European countries, immigration has increasingly become a flashpoint in recent years as the UK deals with an influx of people fleeing war-torn and poorer countries seeking a better life.
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Asylum hotel protests swell in Norwich
Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of the same month.
Protests and counterprotests at sites housing asylum seekers continued over the weekend and the government is braced for further legal fights over the use of hotels.
Police separate protesters in Liverpool
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Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced
A YouGov poll for The Times found that 71% per cent of voters believe Sir Keir is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56% of Labour supporters.
The survey of 2,153 people carried out on August 20-21 found 37% of voters viewed immigration and asylum as the most important issue facing the country, ahead of 25% who said the economy and 7% who said the health service.
Ms Denyer, who is MP for Bristol Central, condemned threats of violence in the charged atmosphere around immigration.
“The far right feels emboldened and validated by other political parties dancing to their tune.
“The abuse I’ve been sent has got noticeably worse in the last few months, escalating in some cases to violent threats, which are reported to the police.
“It doesn’t matter how much you disagree with someone, threats of violence are never, ever OK. And they won’t silence me.”
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Asylum hotels: Is the government caught in a trap?
Is it time for gunboats to help stop the people smugglers?
Curbing the power of judges in asylum cases to tackle the migrant hotel crisis is a typical Keir Starmer response to a problem.
The former director of public prosecutions would appear to see overhauling court procedures and the legal process as the answer to any tricky situation.
Yes, the proposed fast-track asylum appeals process is fine as far as it goes. But for a government confronted with a massive migrant crisis, opponents claim it’s mere tinkering.
And welcome and worthy as it is, it isn’t going to “smash the gangs”, stop the boats or act as a powerful deterrent to the people smugglers plying their trade in the Channel.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested one year ago and has since then been required to stay in France while under investigation.
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