Conservative Jamie Wallis comes out as first openly trans MP

Jamie Wallis posted a lengthy statement last night, in which they said: “I have never lived my truth and I’m not sure how”, but “perhaps it starts with telling everyone”.

The MP for Bridgend also revealed they were raped and blackmailed, and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the note posted on Twitter in the early hours of this morning.

“I’m trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be,” they said.

The message was posted online just before 3am, following a gathering of Tory MPs at which the Prime Minister is reported to have made a joke about trans rights.

“I’ve been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and I’ve felt this way since I was a very young child. I had no intention of ever sharing this with you. I always imagined I would leave politics well before I ever said this out loud,” they said.

“There was a close call in April 2020 when someone blackmailed me, outed me to my father and sent photographs to other family members.

“He wanted £50,000 to keep quiet.

“The police were so supportive, so understanding and on this occasion the system worked.”

The MP said the offender was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison after admitting his guilt.

“For a while it seemed as though I would be able to get on with things and move on,” they wrote.

“Being an MP and hiding something like this was always going to be tough, but I arrogantly assumed I was up for it.

“Well, I’m not.”

Giving details of the rape, the MP said: “I ‘hooked up’ with someone who I met online and when I chose to say ‘no’ on the basis that he wouldn’t wear a condom he chose to rape me.

“I have not been myself since this incident and I don’t think I will ever recover. It is not something you ever forget, and it is not something you ever move on from.

“Since then things have really taken a tumble. I am not ok.”

The MP was arrested and subsequently fined over a car crash last year.

They said they fled the scene following the crash in November “because I was terrified”.

“I have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and I honestly have no idea what I was doing except I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of fear.”

There has been widespread support for the MP, who has been in the Commons for two years, since the statement was posted.

Boris Johnson said: “Sharing this very intimate story would have taken an immense amount of courage.”

He said the story would “undoubtedly support others” and “the Conservative Party I lead will always give you, and everyone else, the love and support you need to be yourself”.