By Rachael Burford

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A former Labour councillor has been charged in connection with the Westminster “honeytrap” scandal, which saw senior MPs receive and exchange explicit images with an unknown phone number.

Police charged Ollie Steadman with one count of blackmail and five communications offences in relation to five alleged victims working in politics and Westminster.

The 28-year-old is accused of communications offences relating to the sending of alleged unsolicited indecent images, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Wednesday.

Steadman quit as a Labour councillor in Islington after his initial arrest in June last year.

His resignation forced a by-election in the Hillrise ward in the borough, which he had represented for just two months.

The “honeytrap” scandal saw British MPs and political figures reporting that they had received explicit images and flirtatious messages from anonymous WhatsApp accounts and phone numbers.

The then-Conservative MP William Wragg resigned the party whip after saying that he had given the phone numbers of fellow MPs to a man he met on a dating app.

Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “We have decided to prosecute Oliver Steadman with blackmail and five communications offences in relation to a total of five victims working within politics and Westminster.

“This follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service which looked into messages that included alleged unsolicited indecent images sent to a number of people within parliamentary political circles between October 2023 and April 2024 using Whatsapp.

“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”

Steadman, from Archway, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, November 3 to face one charge of blackmail and five counts of improper use of a public electronic communications network.