Oliver Steadman

A FORMER Labour councillor who mysteriously resigned from the Town Hall after only 69 days in office has pleaded not guilty to blackmailing charges.

Oliver Steadman appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday accused of blackmail, along with five other offences of improper use of a public communications network.

He was arrested in 2024 by detectives investigating the so-called Westminster honey-trap scandal that targeted MPs and people working around parliament.

Mr Steadman won a seat during the Hillrise by-election in May 2024, but resigned two months later without any explanation.

When his charge came to light, there were questions being asked about how the local Labour party acted after learning of his arrest, which came in the days before voters went to the polls in the general election.

The leader of the Town Hall at the time, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, gave no comment as to why Mr Steadman had stood down, despite his decision triggering another costly by-election. When voters went to the polls in August, they still had no idea why they were being asked so soon to once again vote for a new councillor.

There is not expected to be a trial until October 2027. Mr Steadman has denied blackmailing former Conservative MP William Wragg to obtain phone numbers, and did not enter a plea for the other charges.

He is accused of sending threatening messages to Mr Wragg between February and March 2024, and of sending an indecent image to four other people, three of whom were Tory MPs at the time.