Jamie Wallis, the first Member of Parliament to come out as transgender, crashed his car while wearing a leather miniskirt and high heels, a court has heard.
Wallis was found guilty on Monday at a Cardiff court of failing to stop at the scene of the accident when he crashed his car in November of last year. The Conservative MP for Bridgend said that he had been on his way to meet his estranged wife in the early hours of the morning when a cat ran across his path and he smashed into a telegraph pole in his Mercedes car.
Adrian Watson, one of a group of friends who heard a “very loud bang” just after 1 a.m. while they were enjoying a birthday party, said he saw the MP exit the vehicle while wearing “a white long-sleeve top, a black leather PVC miniskirt, tights, dark shoes with a high heel, and a pearl necklace.”
After stumbling around in a bush, the MP told the court that after he was picked up by his father, he took anti-anxiety medication and went straight to sleep without phoning the police.
Officers forced entry into his self-contained flat where he lives with other family members, where they say he was found naked and wearing makeup, before he was arrested at 7:21 a.m.
Jamie Wallis / Composite
Wallis came out as transgender in a statement he tweeted at 2:48 a.m. at the end of March, saying that he had been “diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” adding that he has “felt this way since I was a very young child.”
Ten hours later, Wallis walked back his initial claims, saying that “for the time being,” while he still wants to be trans, he will continue to “present” as a male and use he/him pronouns, at least until his term in office ends.
Wallis, who was elected as an MP in December 2019, claimed that he had been outed as trans to his father and blackmailed in April 2020 for £50,000, which involved “photographs” being sent to other family members. The blackmailer had allegedly been sentenced to almost 3 years in prison as a result, he said.
Westminster blogging website Guido Fawkes noted that it had been a “long-time rumour” that the Bridgend MP was wearing a miniskirt and other female clothing at the scene, with allegations that it was the reason he came out as transgender before being charged.
The court heard from Wallis that one of the reasons why he fled the scene was because the last time he had worn female clothing was when he was allegedly raped by another male at his London flat in September 2021, after which he claimed he developed PTSD.
NEW: The Conservative MP for Bridgend, Jamie Wallis, elected in 2019, has been found guilty of failing to stop after a crash and abandoning the car. The seat had been Labour since 1987, until the last election.
— Martin Kimber (@MrMKimber) July 11, 2022
“I couldn’t see straight or think straight,” Wallis said, adding that he thought he was concussed. When he saw the party-goers approaching him after the crash, he claimed he was “overwhelmed and consumed with a sense of fear,” and felt like he was “going to be accosted or restrained or kidnapped.”
However, Judge Tan Ikram said Wallis had instead tried to fit his behaviour around PTSD symptoms, arguing that “his actual behaviour did not suggest he was overwhelmed or acting irrationally through fear, noting that he had been able to phone his father, take medication, and lock his door.
“He made the decision to leave the scene,” Ikram continued. “He could have rung 999 or 101. He didn’t. I am sure he didn’t through a conscious choice, not from being overwhelmed and acting irrationally.”
The MP was fined £2,500 and banned from driving for six months.
A spokesman for the Conservative Party Whip’s Office said that it was “right” that he had been punished.
“We will not be taking any further action and will continue to provide welfare support,” they confirmed.
