Transport secretary Louise Haigh resigns over spent fraud conviction
Ilaria Grasso MacolaLouise Haigh has stepped down as transport secretary after it emerged she pleaded guilty to a fraud offence more than a decade ago.
In a letter sent to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer 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.
Her resignation came after Sky News revealed Haigh had pleaded guilty to incorrectly telling the police her work phone had been stolen during a night out in 2013.
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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