Skip to main content

MP Jamie Wallis 'shared office' with sugar daddy website






Conservative MP Jamie Wallis worked in the same office that ran a "sugar daddy" dating website, two former employees have told BBC Wales.

The newly-elected Bridgend MP has distanced himself from Sugar-Daddy.net.

A Labour MP has said this was "clearly" contradicted by company records.

James Cleverly told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday it was not his job as the chairman of the Conservative Party to investigate any claims linked to "business arrangements".

One ex-staffer said he "was aware" the site was being run from the office, while another said his denial "totally lacks credibility".

BBC Wales tried to contact Mr Wallis for comment but was told "he's not available".

Sugar-Daddy.net offered introductions to wealthy individuals, saying: "We can introduce you to your very own sugar daddy and solve your money worries.

"Whether you're a boy, girl, straight or gay, there's a sugar daddy for you."



abour's Tonia Antoniazzi raised the link between Jamie Wallis MP and the site in the House of Commons on Wednesday following reports by Buzzfeed News.

The Gower MP claimed Mr Wallis had "misled the press about his involvement" in the website, which she called "exploitative and demeaning".

Mr Wallis told BuzzFeed: "Online queries indicate the Sugar-Daddy.net website was registered in 2004 and ceased to be operational in 2010."

"The site appears to have been owned and operated by a company named SD Billing Services Limited.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, I have never had a financial interest, nor been a director of SD Billing Services Limited and cannot comment on its operational activities."

amie Wallis is listed at Companies House as a person with significant control of Fields Group Ltd.

Fields Group Ltd is listed as sole shareholder of SD Billing Services between October 2007 and October 2010.

Within that period Mr Wallis was a shareholder and director of Fields Group.

The Fields Group has operated a number of businesses from an office in Pencoed, outside Bridgend.

Two former employees of those, who worked in an office with Jamie Wallis, told the BBC's Politics Wales programme that Sugar-Daddy.net was also run from that office.

One said: "It's not believable to think he didn't know about the site because it was up there on the screen (in the office).

"He would be aware, he was always in the management meetings with everyone else and that's when they talk about how their businesses are going.

"It was just one main office, couple of smaller offices off it on one floor.

"It wasn't a big office, I would say there's about 20 people in it on the main floor. Everyone knew each other.  

"It [Sugar-Daddy.net] was on screen. I saw it many times on screen."

They said he "had to be aware".

"I mean, just walking through the office he would see it on screen," they added.  

Another former employee said: "Sugar Daddy was run from the Bridgend office. Jamie was aware of it and he was fine with it.

"He saw it as a good business model. He had no concerns and never raised any issues about the ethics of it."

BuzzFeed News reported that 10 companies where Mr Wallis was or is a director were subject to more than 800 complaints to trading standards between January 2008 and February 2017, according to Bridgend council.

The council said the companies had been the subject of 20 enforcement visits.

Mr Wallis told BuzzFeed the figures were "nonsense" and he is taking legal action against Bridgend council.

A Bridgend council spokesman confirmed they had received a "letter-before-action" from Fields Group Limited but could not comment further "due to the possibility of ongoing proceedings".

Mr Cleverly told Sky News: "The activities of that website is not something I am at all comfortable with but, ultimately, the relationship between that company and any companies that Jamie might have been involved in is something I am not in a position to look into. Business arrangements are separate.

"If he has done anything wrong that will be looked at by the whips but, at this stage, I don't know he has done anything wrong and the exact relationship between him and various businesses I don't have full details of that."
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Calls for Labour to Go Further on War on Plastic

  The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on Welsh Labour to be more ambitious in its war on plastic and introduce a bottle deposit scheme in Wales. While welcoming the long-delayed plans to ban single-use carrier bags and plastic drinking straws in Wales, the Welsh Liberal Democrats said there was more to be done.   Under legislation introduced today, single-use carrier bags, plastic drinking straws, plastic plates, cutlery, stirrers and cotton buds would all be banned under the proposed new law.   Research from Wrap Cymru estimates that 400,000 tonnes of plastic waste are generated in Wales each year, with 67 per cent of that waste being packaging. Another report by the Marine Conservation Society found that there were 29 drinks containers for every 100 meters of beach in Wales.   A Deposit Return Scheme, also known as a bottle deposit scheme, encourages people to recycle drinks containers such as plastic or glass bottles. People pay a small deposit f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wales Hosepipe Ban – Criticism of Welsh Water Over Large Bonuses While Infrastructure Creaks

Following the news that people in some areas of Wales could face a hosepipe ban this summer, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised Welsh Water for paying large bonuses to its bosses while infrastructure creaks. Data from Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, showed that 169.9 megalitres/day were being wasted through leakage in Welsh Water’s network during 2020-21. The company also failed to meet its Per capita consumption (PCC) targets which are designed to push for less water to be taken from the environment.   The Welsh Liberal Democrats say that their analysis of Company House data shows that executives at Dŵr Cymru were paid £2.6 million in 2020 and 2021 including £931,000 in bonuses, benefits and inc entives.   Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said:   " We cannot control the hot and dry weather, but we can control wastage through outdated or poorly-maintained infrastructure.   “Welsh Water brands itself as “no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ed Davey pays tribute to Her Majesty The Queen in Parliament

 Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, paid tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament. The deep mourning across the country now – just like the celebrations of her Jubilee a few months ago – comes not from a sense of duty, but from genuine and heartfelt affection, love and admiration of Her Majesty. It's not because we were her subjects, but because she was truly our Queen. What she meant to us is perhaps best summed up by a phrase on so many people’s lips over the last twenty-four hours:   “I can’t imagine our country without her.”   For almost everyone in the country, she has been there our whole lives. At times of national grief and national jubilation, she has never not been there for us. So it is hard to accept that she is gone. And hard to see how we go on without her.   But we will. Our great United Kingdom has a great future – because The Queen’s spirit of strength, grace and resolve lives on in her people. One of the great...
Post a Comment
Read more