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Conservative MP Brooks Newmark has said he behaved like a "complete fool" after falling for what looks like a sexting sting orchestrated by a freelance journalist and published in the Sunday Mirror.
We are inclined to agree after having a look at the Twitter profile the male journalist used to pose as a young female Tory activist and solicit explicit photos from the 56-year-old, who has resigned as minister for civil society over the affair.
It's understood that 'Sophie' contacted a number of Tory MPs over the summer, sending them pictures and asking for nude ones in return. Newmark is the only one thought to have taken the bait.
The Twitter account of 'Sophie Wittams' has been deleted, but fragments of it still exist online in cached form.
Here's what we learned:
(In some cases tweets have been re-ordered by theme)
'Sophie' was "hot, hot, hot" this summer.
'Sophie' wasn't averse to hiding in plain sight.
'Sophie' didn't object to the Daily Mail's coverage of the cabinet reshuffle.
'Sophie' likes BuzzFeed.
'Sophie' may have cast her net quite wide...
This article seems silly but it makes a serious point.
Brooks Newmark has appealed for privacy and for his family to be left alone and in one sense his resignation was the worst possible backdrop to the start of the Conservative Party conference, especially considering it came after an MP defected to Ukip.
But the Sunday Mirror editor has been forced to defend the story on public interest grounds - Newmark was not guilty of any illegal behaviour and the pictures he sent 'Sophie' were not unsolicited.
In addition, it is unclear where the male freelance journalist sourced the pictures used in 'Sophie's' profile.
The main profile image appears to be of a Swedish model, while another image of 'Sophie' sunbathing apparently belongs to a woman from Boston, Lincolnshire.
i100 has reached out to both women to find out whether they were asked permission for their pictures to be used in this way.
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