By RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:14 BST, 17 September 2025 | Updated: 12:32 BST, 17 September 2025 6 shares
A former Labour councillor has been charged with blackmail as part of an investigation into the Westminster 'honeytrap' scandal. Oliver Steadman, 28, faces one count of blackmail and five communications offences in relation to five alleged victims working in politics and Westminster.The honeytrap scandal saw MPs and political figures reporting of receiving explicit images and flirtatious messages from anonymous WhatsApp accounts and phone numbers.Steadman was suspended by Labour following his arrest in June 2024. He resigned as a councillor for Islington in North London a month later - forcing a by-election just two months after he was elected. Former Conservative MP William Wragg admitted in April 2024 that he had given the personal contact numbers of fellow MPs to someone on Grindr, a gay dating app. Oliver Steadman, 28, faces one count of blackmail and five counts of improper use of a public electronic communications networkHe said he had sent the unknown person photographs of himself and feared what they would do if he did not agree to their demands. At least a dozen men - including a minister, MPs and journalists working in Westminster - claimed to have been targeted. Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested at the time that a foreign state may be responsible for messages.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, has been charged with one count of blackmail in relation to alleged unwarranted demands for the contact telephone numbers of up to 12 individuals. He has also been charged with a communications offence of improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to the same victim.Steadman also faces four further communications offence charges over the improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to four other victims. This relates to the sending of alleged unsolicited indecent images. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, November 3.
