A Tory MP has announced he is trans in a highly personal Twitter post that also sets out his experiences of rape and blackmail.

Jamie Wallis, MP for Bridgend, said he had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria adding: “I’ve felt this way since I was a very young chlld”.

Mr Wallis also detailed a catalogue of traumatic incidents including a blackmail attempt in 2020, an incident last September when he was raped by a man he met online, and a car crash in November when he fled the scene.

MPs from across the political spectrum sent messages of support following the Twitter statement.

Mr Wallis said: “I’m trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be.

“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.

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“I always imagined I would leave politics well before I ever said this out loud.”

In his statement he said that in April 2020 “someone blackmailed me, outed me to my father and sent photographs to other family members”, demanding £50,000 “to keep quiet”.

Mr Wallis said the man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.

He added: “For a while it seemed as though I would be able to get on with things and move on.

“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.

“A few months back, in September, 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.

“When I crashed my car on 28 November I fled the scene. I did so because I was terrified.

“I have PTSD and I honestly have no idea what I was doing except I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of fear.

“I am sorry that it appears I ‘ran away’ but this isn’t how it happened in the moment.”

Mr Wallis said he had received “a lot of support” from Conservative whips since he was elected.

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