On Sunday, Dame Andrea Jenkyns came forward as another target. The Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood said she received the suspected scam message at the beginning of this year and informed the party whips.
On Thursday, William Wragg, the Tory MP for Hazel Grove, admitted to responding to messages on Grindr, a gay dating app, and sending on the phone numbers of colleagues.
Those numbers – including of several MPs, members of their staff and a political journalist – were later sent flirtatious texts, and in several cases explicit photos, from senders using the aliases “Charlie” or “Abi”.
Last week it was confirmed Mr Wragg would keep the Tory whip after Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, called his apology “courageous and fulsome”. The Telegraph understands that Conservative whips have had conversations with Mr Wragg since his involvement in the scandal came to light.
Henry Zeffman, the BBC journalist, is the latest Westminster figure to go public as a target of the suspected Westminster honeytrap. The broadcaster’s chief political correspondent said he received WhatsApp messages from two numbers identifying themselves as “Charlie” and later “Abi Miller” after he had blocked the first.
“Abi” claimed to have been an intern at The Times newspaper, where Mr Zeffman had worked until last year, telling him: “Always used to joke that you were the only fit one in the politics team.”
“Abi” later appeared to admit being the “same person” who had contacted the journalist the day before, saying: “I was sad you blocked me.”
Politico, which first revealed the scandal, reported that attendees at the Liberal Democrat party conference in October were targeted by a Grindr account going by the name of “Charlie”.
The user was “very open about wanting to sleep with MPs”, one former MP staffer told Politico, adding: “He asked for names of politicians. He never asked for numbers, but he did ask for names that would be interested.”
The report said the account was linked to a phone number that was used to target several people in Westminster.
A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said: “It is deeply disturbing that individuals are being targeted in this way. We would urge anyone who suspects malicious online behaviour to report it to the relevant authorities, including the police.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
