Louise Haigh, the transport secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s government, has resigned after admitting to a fraud offence that occurred a decade ago. Haigh stated that the incident occurred before she became an MP. In 2013, she reported losing her work mobile phone to police in a mugging but later discovered it had not been taken. Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police in a magistrates’ court in 2015. She was given the “lowest possible outcome” of a discharge and declared it when she joined the shadow cabinet in 2020.
Haigh’s resignation raises questions over the prime minister’s judgement in appointing someone with a spent conviction to his cabinet, given he had previously attacked the Conservatives during Partygate, stating that “lawbreakers can’t be lawmakers.” Officials are questioning why Sir Keir gave her the job when it appears he was aware of the specifics of the case when Haigh joined his shadow cabinet. Haigh was responsible for the flagship policy of re-nationalising the country’s rail network under Great British Rail but was also the first cabinet minister the PM publicly rebuked over remarks about P&O Ferries.
Whitehall sources told the BBC that the transport secretary had declared her discharge when she joined the shadow cabinet. Senior Labour figure sources have described Haigh’s resignation as a “good resignation,” allowing her to potentially come back at a later date with a clean slate. Haigh was seen as one of the remaining “soft left” ministers in Sir Keir’s cabinet and backed Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership.
A successor is expected to be announced today. Haigh is the first resignation in Sir Keir’s government, and he praised her for the “huge strides” she made as transport secretary. A Conservative Party spokesman stated, “It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP.”
Born in 1987 in Sheffield, Haigh studied politics at Nottingham University and law at Birkbeck, University of London. Before joining politics, Haigh worked as a shop steward for the union Unite and as a Metropolitan Police officer in London’s Lambeth borough. She has been the MP for Sheffield Heeley since 2015 and held several shadow cabinet roles before becoming transport secretary when Labour won the election nearly five months ago
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