Heidi Alexander named new transport secretary after Louise Haigh resigns
Ilaria Grasso MacolaHeidi Alexander has been appointed the new transport secretary just hours after Louise Haigh became the first resignation of Keir Starmer’s government.
Before she was announced as the transport secretary on Friday (29 November), Alexander had been serving as a justice minister. She previously worked as Sadiq Khan’s deputy transport mayor from 2018 to 2021.
Haigh’s resignation came after Sky News revealed she had pleaded guilty to incorrectly telling the police her work phone had been stolen during a night out in 2013.
In a letter sent to the prime minister on Thursday (28 November), Haigh announced she had resigned to avoid becoming a “distraction” to the government’s work.
“I remain totally committed to our political project, but now I believe it will be best served by supporting you from outside government,” she said.
Haigh told the prime minister that after "terrifying" mugging she gave the police a list of items she believed had been stolen – which included the work phone.
Some time later, she found her phone at her home but failed to notify her employer, insurance company Aviva. She was working as a public policy manager for the firm at the time.
Haigh admitted: “I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake."
She was given a conditional discharge by magistrates, following the incident which happened before she became an MP.
According to media reports, Haigh disclosed the incident to Starmer in 2020 when she became part of the shadow cabinet but never discussed the matter in public.
“You have made huge strides to take our rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways, investing £1 billion in our vital bus services and lowering costs for motorists,” Starmer said in a statement. “I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”
Haigh became the youngest female cabinet minister when she was appointed transport secretary in July.
It comes just days after she spoke at the Airlines 2024 conference, telling the industry the Labour government was not anti-flying as she unveiled a revamped Jet Zero Taskforce to oversee sustainability.
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