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Hours after it was reported that a researcher working in Britain’s parliament had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, The Sunday Times revealed his identity, reporting that the suspect is allegedly the director of a China-focused think tank co-founded by several high-profile conservative lawmakers—including the nation’s security minister.
The researcher was named on Sunday night by the newspaper as Chris Cash, a 28-year-old history graduate and “long-suffering Scottish rugby follower,” according to an archived version of his Twitter account.
Cash was also reportedly a fixture on the parliamentary social scene, frequently seen rubbing elbows with civil servants, aides, researchers, and journalists at boozy events. One political reporter for The Sun proclaimed on Sunday that she’d previously matched with the alleged spy on the dating app Hinge.