Louise Haigh has stepped down as Transport Secretary following revelations of a spent conviction for filing a false police report in 2013.

Her resignation has sparked scrutiny of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision-making and the new Labour government’s teething problems.

Parking up

Louise Haigh has stepped down as Transport Secretary.

She was appointed when the new government came to power in the summer general election.

It now appears she was appointed despite telling Keir Starmer of the conviction.

Given his past assertion during the “Partygate” scandal that “lawbreakers can’t be lawmakers” and vociferous comments about Boris Johnson’s actions at the time by Haigh, the media headlines worried Number 10.

Haigh’s conviction was spent and no longer on her record. It was the result of what the Magistrates accepted was a simple mistake.

However, the PR problems suffered by the new government before this may well be the reason for this latest episode and the wish to avoid any more negative media headlines.

However, it appears to have done the very opposite.

 

 

Mountain and mole hill

Haigh explained the incident, which occurred when she worked as a public policy manager at Aviva, as a misunderstanding stemming from a “terrifying” mugging in London.

She reported her work phone among the items stolen but later found it at home.

Activating the phone triggered police attention, leading to questioning.

Despite claiming it was a genuine mistake, she pleaded guilty and received a conditional discharge, the “lowest possible outcome.”

Reports from The Times suggest the issue involved more than one missing phone, though Haigh’s team has not clarified these claims.

The conviction, which occurred six months before she became an MP in 2015, had been disclosed to Labour during her shadow cabinet appointment in 2020.

However, the fallout has led to questions over Starmer’s judgment in giving her a senior role with a £30 billion budget.

Derailed

Haigh’s tenure as Transport Secretary included advancing Labour’s flagship rail renationalisation policy by creating Great British Rail.

However, she courted controversy recently by urging a boycott of P&O Ferries following the actions of the company two years ago when they sacked 800 staff illegally.

Her comments prompted a rebuke from Starmer after their parent company, DP World, threatened to withdraw from a key investment summit in October this year.

In her resignation letter, Haigh said she did not want to distract from Labour’s goals and pledged to support Starmer from outside the government. Starmer, in response, praised her for making “huge strides” in public transport reforms but acknowledged the need to move forward.

Stepping in

The new Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, brings significant experience.

First elected as an MP in 2010, she stood down in 2018 to serve as London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport under Sadiq Khan and deputy head of Transport for London.

Returning to Parliament in July this year, Alexander is now tasked with steering Labour’s ambitious transport agenda.

 

 

Reactions and Ramifications

The Conservative Party criticized Starmer’s judgment, calling Haigh’s appointment a “failure” that demands public explanation.

Meanwhile, Labour insiders framed Haigh’s resignation as a strategic move that could allow her to return to politics later with a clean slate.

Born in Sheffield in 1987, Haigh has been the MP for Sheffield Heeley since 2015, holding various shadow ministerial roles under Jeremy Corbyn and Starmer.

She remains a prominent voice on the Labour left, though her relationship with Starmer has sometimes been strained.

This resignation, the first high-profile departure from Starmer’s cabinet, raises questions about Labour’s internal cohesion and the handling of political vetting processes ahead of the next general election.