Louise Haigh resigns as UK transport secretary over phone offence

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UK transport secretary Louise Haigh has resigned after admitting that she had pleaded guilty to a criminal offence over a missing mobile phone, in a fresh setback to the government after a bruising first five months in office.

“Whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government,” Haigh said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Haigh admitted in a statement on Thursday that she pleaded guilty a decade ago to a minor criminal offence relating to a mobile phone she wrongly claimed had been stolen. 

Haigh, who is on the left of the Labour party, said that she had told police she lost the device during a “terrifying” mugging on a night out in 2013 — only to discover later that it had not been taken after all.

The 37-year-old MP said that the inaccurate statement had been a “genuine mistake”. 

Acknowledging Haigh’s decision to resign, Starmer said she had helped to deliver an ambitious transport agenda. “I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future,” he said.

The resignation follows a bruising month for the Labour government following last month’s Budget, which has been criticised by businesses for the biggest tax increases in a generation.

As transport secretary, she was responsible for everything from High Speed 2 rail and the nationalisation of the railway system to policy on electric vehicles.

Haigh’s decision comes in the middle of fraught talks with the car industry over ways to water down the country’s electric vehicle sales rules, which manufacturers say are too onerous given demand for electric vehicles is weakening.

Before being elected — and at the time of her offence — Haigh worked as a public policy manager for Aviva. She also volunteered as a special constable in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary from 2009 to 2011. 

Haigh said she intended to remain as an MP. She has represented Sheffield Heeley since 2015.

“I remain totally committed to our political project, but I now believe it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government,” she said in the letter to Starmer.