Louise Haigh resigns as Transport Secretary after pleading guilty to a criminal offence

The Transport Secretary Louis Haigh has resigned after she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence.

She incorrectly told police her mobile phone was stolen 11-years ago in 2013 and it is believed the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was told of this when she joined the shadow cabinet.

She told the Prime Minister in a letter she is ““totally committed to our political project” and “it will be best served by my supporting you from outside Government.”

Haigh wrote, “I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done. 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.” Starmer thanked Haigh for her work.

Sky News and the Times reported on Thursday evening she admitted to an offence in 2014 as she had reported the device was stolen as she was “mugged” in 2013 Haigh told police.

The offence for fraud and the conviction is now spent,  it is understood.

She found out “some time later” the phone was not stole and she made a “genuine mistake” and she “did not make any gain” and the magistrate delivered her the “lowest possible outcome.”

In her letter to the Prime Minister, she wrote, “I gave the police a list of my possessions that I believed had been stolen, including my work phone.

“Some time later, I discovered that the handset in question was still in my house.

“I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake.

“I appreciate that whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government and the policies to which we are both committed.”

A Conservative Party spokesman 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.”