Louise Haigh became the first minister to quit Sir Keir Starmer’s government in a blow to the prime minister which has raised question marks about his judgement.
The transport secretary wrote to the prime minister tendering her resignation as transport secretary after admitting she was convicted for making a false report to police over a mobile phone being stolen 10 years ago.
But the episode drew questions about Sir Keir’s judgement when it emerged on Thursday night that he had appointed her to his shadow cabinet in 2020 after she had disclosed the offence to him.
When the revelations broke a number of comments on social media pointed out that when Boris Johnson was fined over a Covid lockdown breach, Sir Keir had tweeted: “You cannot be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker.”
An ally of Ms Haigh has confirmed that as Labour leader Sir Keir knew “all the facts” around her conviction when he appointed her to his shadow cabinet. At the time Sir Keir was described as “extremely empathetic” to Ms Haigh.
Subsequently, he promoted her three times in the full knowledge of her past crime. This included trusting her with the shadow Northern Ireland brief, a subject close to the prime minister’s heart.
The ally also insisted: “Louise decided to resign herself, she wasn’t forced. She is aware enough to know when she was becoming a distraction.”
But now in less than six months in government, Sir Keir has now lost his first choice as chief of staff Sue Gray and now a cabinet minister.
Ms Haigh, 37, had been the youngest member of the cabinet and was at the forefront of a socialist agenda in transport, with the renationalisation of rail and bringing buses back into public ownership. She also managed to secure £1 billion investment in buses and £500 million for pot holes as well as trying to bring some settlement to the beleaguered HS2 project.
In her letter to the prime minister, Ms Haigh said she was “totally committed to our political project” but she would be better able to serve from outside the government.
“I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done,” she wrote. “I will continue to fight every day for the people of Sheffield Heeley who I was first and foremost elected to represent and to ensure that the rest of our programme is delivered in full.”
Sir Keir Starmer responded by thanking Ms Haigh for her work to deliver the government’s transport agenda.
The incident involving the mobile phone took place when Ms Haigh was in her twenties in 2013 and she told police that she was mugged on a night out.
Ms Haigh, who was a special constable in the Metropolitan Police between 2009 and 2011 but was reportedly working for insurance giant Aviva at the time of the offence, said: “Sometime later I discovered that the mobile in question had not been taken. In the interim, I had been issued with another work phone.
“The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning. My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice.
“The police referred the matter to the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and I appeared before magistrates.”
She added it was a “genuine mistake” and she did not gain anything from it.
Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to a fraud offence at a magistrates’ court only six months before she became an MP in the 2015 election.
She received a discharge - a type of conviction where a court finds a person guilty of a minor offence but does not impose a punishment - in what she said was the “lowest possible outcome”. The conviction is now spent.
In response to Ms Haigh’s letter, Mr Starmer thanked her for her work and expressed optimism over her future ability to contribute to the government.
“You have made huge strides to take our rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways, investing £1bn in our vital bus services and lowering cost for motorists,” he wrote.
“I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”
However, there had been speculation over Ms Haigh’s position in the last few weeks after DP World, the owners of P&O Ferries, had threatened to withdraw £1 billion of investment after she had made comments about boycotting them over past hire and fire practices.
The Tories said the resignation leaves questions about the prime minister’s judgement.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Louise Haigh has done the right thing in resigning. It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP.
“In her resignation letter, she states that Keir Starmer was already aware of the fraud conviction, which raises questions as to why the prime minister appointed Ms Haigh to Cabinet with responsibility for a £30bn budget? The onus is now on Keir Starmer to explain this obvious failure of judgement to the British public.”
Mick Lynch praised Ms Haigh for the “landmark achievement” of laying the groundwork to bring railways back into public ownership.
The general secretary of the transport union said: “Louise achieved a great deal during her time as Transport Secretary including laying the foundations for the public ownership of our railways—a landmark achievement that prioritises the needs of passengers and workers over private profit.
“Her vision and dedication have set the stage for a fairer, more efficient, and publicly accountable transport system.”
