Police had first been made aware of a catfisher targeting people involved in UK politics in late 2023, but the news began to emerge more widely in April, after a story was published on the Politico news website. Catfishing involves setting up a fake online identity to trick and control others.
Wragg was on a train when he saw the article. “My stomach just dropped,” he says. “I thought gosh this must have so much to do with the person I’ve been interacting with.”
Approached by a journalist from the Times, Wragg admitted chatting with someone on an app who subsequently asked him for the numbers of others.
He apologised for his “weakness”, resigned the Conservative whip and stood down from his posts on two parliamentary committees. He had already announced he would not stand in the next general election.
“When I found out some of the things that had been going on, I just felt enormous guilt, enormous remorse,” he tells me. “My mood just plummeted.”
Wragg had struggled with his mental health in the past and had already stopped taking his antidepressants, which he considers a factor in the suicidal thoughts which led him to be admitted to hospital.
The Westminster catfishing operation was sophisticated, and had been under way for many months before Wragg became involved. But he concedes that his actions led to friends and colleagues also becoming victims.
Wragg says he feels “great regret” and has “sought to apologise”, adding: “I hope I can explain it in the context of the almost sense of control, the influence this person had over me.”
However, one former MP who believes his number was passed on by Wragg told the : “None of us to my recollection have ever received an apology from Will… It might be an idea for him to apologise to those he dropped in the dirt.”
Contrary to some early speculation, police have said they do not think any other foreign state was involved. In June a member of the Labour Party in his mid-20s was arrested in London on suspicion of harassment and offences under the Online Safety Act. He has been bailed until late November.
