Heidi Alexander has replaced Louise Haigh as transport secretary after it was discovered the latter has a fraud conviction going back to an incident in 2013. The wording of her resignation letter suggests that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may have known about the conviction prior to her appointment to the cabinet, prompting the opposition to accuse him of an 'obvious failure of judgement'.
The conviction, which is now spent, was the result of a 'mistake' according to Haigh.
Fraud Or Genuine Mistake?
Describing the incident in her resignation letter to Starmer, Haigh said, "As you know, in 2013 I was mugged in London. As a 24-year-old woman, the experience was terrifying. In the immediate aftermath, I reported the incident to the police. 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.'
Haigh was later questioned by police and the matter was referred to magistrates. She stated that she plead guilty following the advice of her solicitor, but added the whole affair was a 'genuine mistake' from which she did not personally profit.
She added, 'The magistrates accepted all of these arguments and gave me the lowest possible outcome (a discharge) available.'
Political Response
On Thursday evening Sky News and the Times broke the news of the conviction. While not denying that the Prime Minister had prior knowledge of the conviction, the Prime Minister's spokesman claimed that 'further information' emerged yesterday. It is not clear what that 'further information' might be.
The opposition Conservative Party welcomed Haigh's resignation, with a spokesman saying, '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.'
The New Minister
Haigh, 37, was the youngest female cabinet member in British history. She was censured by Keir Starmer last month when she described ferry company P&O Ferries as a 'rogue operator'. Starmer said that her comments were 'not the view of the government'.
The new transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, will leave her post as justice minister. She first entered parliament in 2010. In 2018 she resigned as an MP so that she could become Deputy Mayor of London for Transport. She re-entered parliament at this year's general election.
