British transport minister resigns over fraud scandal
British Transport Minister Louise Haigh has resigned after it emerged that she pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation in 2014.
Haigh was appointed as shadow transport secretary for the Labour Party in 2021 and was promoted to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet after he led the party to a general election victory earlier this year.
In a letter to Starmer on Friday, she said she was tendering her resignation because “this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government,” the British media reported. Starmer thanked her for her work and said he knows that Haigh still has “a huge contribution to make in the future.”
Hours earlier, Sky News and the Times of London had revealed details of the politician’s past conviction. Her brush with the law took place when Haigh worked for the insurance giant Aviva before running for public office in 2015.
Aviva, it was revealed, conducted an internal investigation regarding several work phones, which Haigh reported missing or stolen on various occasions. The prosecution related to a specific device, which the politician maintains she mistakenly listed as being stolen from her in 2013. It was subsequently switched on, which attracted the attention of police.
”The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before Southwark magistrates. Under the advice of my solicitor, I pleaded guilty – despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain,” she told the press.
Magistrates sentenced her to the lowest-possible punishment of a conditional discharge, she pointed out. The conviction is now spent, which means it has been removed from Haigh’s record. She said she had informed Starmer about the incident, but did not share it with the public.
Haigh has served as the MP for the constituency of Sheffield since 2015, and held the position of shadow policing minister under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. After the change of party leadership in 2019, she became shadow Northern Ireland secretary, then shadow transport secretary.
During her political career, Haigh has criticized some politicians who had legal troubles. In 2022, she urged Boris Johnson, then-Tory leader and British prime minister, to resign, after police issued 20 fines over parties held at his official residence during a Covid-19 lockdown.
