Conservative MP Brooks Newmark has said he has been “a complete fool” following a sex scandal that forced him to resign as a government minister.

Newmark, 56, is alleged to have shared a sexual image of himself with a journalist who had been posing as a young female activist on Twitter in an article published by the Sunday Mirror.

The paper said the reporter made contact with Newmark while investigating the alleged inappropriate use of social media by MPs. After messaging ‘Sophie’ directly on Twitter, Newmark exchanged numbers with her and then sent explicit photos of himself through the message application WhatsApp.

The ‘Sophie Wittams’ account appears to use the image of a mother-of-two from Lincolnshire, who posted a “sunbathing selfie” on Twitter. Charlene Tyler, 26, told the Telegraph she was upset that a photograph of her in a bikini had been used on the fake account. “I think grown adults can do whatever they like, as long as both of them are over the age of consent,” she said. “Sending someone a picture of your willy isn’t the end of the world. The fact that a newspaper was stealing my photograph is quite wrong. The newspaper’s taken it too far.”

According to BuzzFeed, the fake account was also used over a period of time to contact and ‘flirt’ with various Tory MPs over a number of months.

Photo: Buzzfeed

The newspaper is now under pressure to reveal details of the sting operation which led to the Tory MP’s resignation from his ministerial role on Saturday. Newmark took full responsibility for his actions, telling ITV News: “I have been a complete fool. I have no one to blame but myself. I have hurt those I care about most.”

Newmark has been the MP for Braintree in Essex since 2005 and was named minister of Civil Society in July of this year.