A minister for the UK's Conservative Party has resigned after sending thousands of explicit texts to two women.
Andrew Griffiths, whose wife gave birth to their first child in April, was the Tory minister for small business and Theresa May's former Chief of Staff.
The 47-year-old was celebrated as a champion for women, setting up the Women2Win campaign to elect more female MPs and calling out companies with few women in their boardrooms.
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But it's been revealed that Mr Griffiths sent more than 2000 racy texts to two women who work as barmaids.
He befriended Imogen Treharne, 28, on social media and began sending increasingly explicit messages to her and an unnamed friend - so many that Ms Treharne claims she had to put her phone on airplane mode.
"I'm the daddy with power," he said of himself.
He would often text them just before or after conducting important parliamentary business, such as voting on Brexit or visiting Buckingham Palace.
Some of his messages - which were published by The Mirror - were violent in nature, with Mr Griffiths claiming that he had beaten women during sex.
"I can be an evil ******* when I'm turned on," he said.
He paid the women more than £700 (NZ$1370) to send him erotic photos and videos of themselves, and asked Ms Treharne to film herself beating her friend.
When she obliged, he told her she was hitting the other woman "nowhere near hard enough".
"Can she take a beating?" he wrote. "I have to be slightly careful in my job."
Mr Griffiths would often boast about his power and about meeting famous people such as Prince Charles, The Mirror reports.
"Daddy has been up making speeches and running the country," he said in one message. "But what he really wants to be doing is ******* naughty girls *******."
On Friday (local time) Mr Griffiths announced he would be resigning from parliament over the text messages.
"I am deeply ashamed at my behaviour which has caused untold distress to my wife and family, to whom I owe everything, and deep embarrassment to the Prime Minister and the Government I am so proud to serve," he said in a statement.
"I do not seek to excuse my behaviour and will be seeking professional help to ensure it never happens again."
It's the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Tories after Boris Johnson's resignation and US President Donald Trump's assertion that Prime Minister May had "wrecked" Brexit.
Newshub.
