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William Wragg

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For the footballer, see Willie Wragg.

William Wragg
Official portrait, 2022
Chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee
In office
29 January 2020 – 8 April 2024
Preceded bySir Bernard Jenkin
Succeeded byDame Jackie Doyle-Price
Member of Parliament
for Hazel Grove
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAndrew Stunell
Succeeded byLisa Smart
Personal details
Born (1987-12-11) 11 December 1987 (age 37)
Political party
  • Independent (since April 2024)
  • Conservative (until April 2024)
Residence(s)Hazel Grove, Greater Manchester, England
London, England
EducationPoynton High School
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Websitewilliamwragg.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata

William Peter Wragg (born 11 December 1987), is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester from 2015 to 2024.[1] As a member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as a vice-chairman of its 1922 Committee.[2] From April 2024 until parliament was dissolved in May 2024, he sat as an independent.

Early life and education

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William Wragg was born on 11 December 1987.[3][4] He attended Poynton High School before gaining a first-class degree in history from the University of Manchester.[5][6]

Wragg became a school governor in 2008 and went on to volunteer as a student mentor.[7] He unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate in the Hazel Grove ward of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in 2010,[8] but was elected in the same ward in 2011.[9] He completed a two-year Teach First training programme as a primary school teacher before taking up a job as a caseworker for a Conservative MP in 2014.[10]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2015 general election Wragg was elected as MP for Hazel Grove, winning with 41.4% of the vote and a majority of 6,552.[11][12] He stood down as a councillor and, in 2016, the Liberal Democrats won back the Hazel Grove council ward seat.[13]

In February 2016, Wragg disclosed that he had moved back to his parents' house in order to save money for a deposit on buying a house.[14][15]

In May 2016, it was reported that Wragg was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the 2015 general election party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses; he was interviewed, under caution, by Police in 2017, after which Police passed his file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).[16] In May 2017, the CPS decided that no criminal charges would be brought.[17]

Wragg campaigned for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum and, following the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, campaigned for Andrea Leadsom in the 2016 Conservative leadership election.[18]

At the snap 2017 general election, Wragg was re-elected as MP for Hazel Grove with an increased vote share of 45.4% and a decreased majority of 5,514.[19] He had been targeted by the successor to the Remain campaign, Open Britain, for his support of a hard Brexit.[20] Wragg served on the Procedure, Education and Backbench Business Committees, and the Finance Committee.[21]

At the 2019 general election, Wragg was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 48.8% and a decreased majority of 4,423.[22] In January 2020, Wragg was elected to chair the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.[23] Wragg won the contest by 335 to 183 votes.[24]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Wragg was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph in November 2020 from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke[broken anchor] agenda'".[25]

In 2020, Wragg became a "lockdown rebel" and a steering committee member of the lockdown-sceptic COVID Recovery Group alongside a group of Conservatives who opposed the UK government's December 2020 lockdown.[26] The Guardian described the group as European Research Group (ERG)-inspired,[27] and a response by backbench Conservatives to Nigel Farage's anti-lockdown Reform UK party.[26]

On 12 January 2022, Wragg called for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign over the Westminster lockdown parties controversy.[28] Wragg publicly confirmed he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson.[29] On 20 January 2022, Wragg accused whips of blackmail against Conservative MPs who were believed to support ousting Johnson as prime minister. He said he had heard stories of MPs being told they could face loss of public investment in their constituencies and releasing of embarrassing stories.[30] On 24 January, the Metropolitan Police met with Wragg to discuss the allegations.[29]

Wragg became the sixth MP to call for Prime Minister Liz Truss's resignation on 19 October 2022. He also submitted a letter of no confidence in her leadership.[31] On 22 November 2022, Wragg announced he would be standing down at the 2024 general election.[32]

Grindr honeytrap scandal

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In April 2024, Wragg admitted to sharing the contact details of several other Conservative MPs with a blackmailer after being the victim of a honeytrap on the gay dating app Grindr. Wragg had sent indecent images of himself to the blackmailer, who then threatened to release the images to the public unless Wragg provided the personal contacts of the other MPs. When the news of the affair broke, Wragg stated: "I was scared. I'm mortified. I'm so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt".[33][34][35] Wragg later quit both his role as chair of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and as vice chair of the 1922 Committee.[36] On 9 April 2024 Wragg resigned the Conservative Party whip and sat as an Independent.[37]

Personal life

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In November 2024 Wragg spoke publicly about being a victim of catfishing. He recalled that he had struggled with his mental health in the past and had had suicidal thoughts which led to him being admitted to hospital.[38]

References

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  1. ^ "Hazel Grove Parliamentary Constituency Results". BBC News.
  2. ^ "William Wragg: Tory MP at centre of 'sexting scam' scandal stands down from two top Commons posts". Sky News.
  3. ^ "William Peter Wragg". WHO'S WHO 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  4. ^ Carr, Tim (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84954-924-0. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  5. ^ "William Wragg: Honeytrap Tory MP right to apologise, says Rishi Sunak". BBC News. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Alumni". Poynton High School & Performing Arts College.
  7. ^ "About William". William Wragg. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Election Results". Stockport Borough Council. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  9. ^ Fitzgerald, Todd (23 June 2015). "'Who's Hazel Grove'? William Wragg delivers geography lesson during maiden speech to parliament". Manchester Evening News.
  10. ^ "William Wragg's CV". Democracy Club. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Hazel Grove". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Election Results". Stockport Borough Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  14. ^ Fitzgerald, Todd (10 February 2016). "Tory MP William Wragg moves back in with his parents because he says he can't afford to buy a house". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  15. ^ Hughes, Laura (10 February 2016). "Tory MP admits he has moved back into his parent's[sic] home to save up for a deposit". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  16. ^ Mason, Rowena; Watt, Holly (16 March 2017). "Two Tory MPs reveal CPS is reviewing their election spending". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  17. ^ Evans, Martin; Swinford, Steven (10 May 2017). "CPS announces no charges in Conservative Party election spending investigation". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Conservative Party Leader Contest 2016 - Update". William Wragg MP. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  19. ^ "Hazel Grove parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  20. ^ York, Chris (25 April 2017). "Open Britain Attack List Of Brexit-Backing MPs Drawn Up Ahead Of General Election". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  21. ^ "William Wragg MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Statement of persons nominated 2019" (PDF).
  23. ^ "William Wragg Elected Chair of Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022.
  24. ^ "Result Sheet" (PDF). Parliament.uk. p. 13. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^ a b Hope, Christopher (10 November 2020). "Tory lockdown rebels unite to form Covid Recovery Group". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  27. ^ Bland, Archie; Elgot, Jessica (11 November 2020). "Dissatisfied Tory MPs flock to ERG-inspired pressure groups". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Boris Johnson: Senior Tories urge PM to quit after party apology". BBC News. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  29. ^ a b Hope, Christopher (21 January 2022). "Scotland Yard to meet with William Wragg over Downing Street blackmail claims". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  30. ^ Swinford, Steven (20 January 2022). "Senior Tory William Wragg accuses No 10 of blackmailing Johnson plotters". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  31. ^ Bet, Martina; McCrum, Kirstie (19 October 2022). "Tory MP submits letter of no confidence in PM". WalesOnline. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  32. ^ "Senior Tory William Wragg to stand down as MP at next election". uk.news.yahoo.com. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Honeytrap sext scandal: Tory MP William Wragg admits leaking phone numbers". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  34. ^ Badshah, Nadeem (4 April 2024). "Senior Tory 'mortified' after reportedly passing MPs' data to dating app contact". The Guardian.
  35. ^ "William Wragg escapes Tory punishment for leaking phone numbers". The Independent. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  36. ^ "William Wragg: Tory MP at centre of 'sexting scam' scandal stands down from two top Commons posts". Sky News. 8 April 2024.
  37. ^ "William Wragg: Tory MP at centre of Westminster sexting scandal quits parliamentary party". Sky News. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  38. ^ "William Wragg: I felt enormous guilt, says ex-MP in honeytrap scandal". BBC News. 15 November 2024.
[edit]
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Hazel Grove
2015–2024 		Succeeded by
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