British Transport Minister Louise Haigh resigned on Friday due to a decade-old fraud conviction related to a false claim about her stolen cellphone. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh expressed her commitment to their political project but believed that her resignation would better serve the government's work and policies.
The resignation followed reports by Sky News and The Times of London that Haigh had been charged with fraud in 2013 after falsely reporting her work cellphone as stolen during a mugging incident. She later admitted to mistakenly including it among the stolen items and pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation, receiving a conditional discharge.
Prior to her resignation, Haigh explained that she pleaded guilty based on legal advice, despite the incident being a genuine mistake without any personal gain. The magistrates acknowledged these circumstances and issued the lowest possible outcome, a discharge.
Haigh, 37, had represented a district in Sheffield, northern England, in Parliament since 2015 and was appointed to the crucial transport post after the Labour party's election in July. Following her resignation, Heidi Alexander, 49, was named as her replacement. Alexander, who returned to Parliament in the recent general election after a 6-year hiatus, had previously held a significant role overseeing London's transport system at City Hall.
