At 37, Louise Haigh became the youngest female cabinet minister to have ever been appointed. But less than six months later, the former Metropolitan Police special constable was forced to tender her resignation after falling foul of the law years earlier.
Ms Haigh was once described as having “terrier-like intensity” after she was first elected as an MP for Sheffield Heeley in May 2015.
Then-House of Commons speaker John Bercow praised her for campaigning against the closure of tax offices, and the following year she was deemed by The Yorkshire Post to be the most hard-working of the new intake of MPs because of her sheer volume of parliamentary questions and speeches.
Born in 1987 in Sheffield, she studied politics at Nottingham University and law at Birkbeck, University of London.
She worked as a shop steward for the union Unite and as a special constable for the Met in London’s Lambeth borough before entering politics.
Delighted to be appointed as Shadow Policing Minister. As a fmr Special Constable I will fight hard for our police: https://t.co/vqDs3hmjMd pic.twitter.com/Nnv4Y08hsm
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) July 3, 2017
When she later served as shadow policing minister from 2017, she said her experience in the Met informed some of her policies and decision-making - calling for a “ruthless culture change” in the police following the murder of Sarah Everard.
Despite nominating Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership contest, before going on to back Owen Smith and later campaigning for Lisa Nandy rather than Sir Keir Starmer in 2020, the former transport secretary still held high-level roles within the party.
In 2020, at a time when tense post-Brexit trade negotiations were taking place, she was appointed shadow Northern Ireland secretary and in 2021 went on to become shadow transport secretary.
Following Labour’s historic general election victory, Ms Haigh became the youngest female cabinet minister to ever be appointed when the party moved into government and she became secretary of state for transport.
Delighted to arrive at my first in-person @UKLabour conference as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland!
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) September 26, 2021
A packed agenda and huge interest in the challenges facing Northern Ireland here. pic.twitter.com/QP1P4Banw6
But her appointment was not free from controversy. In October, she encouraged a boycott of P&O Ferries, dubbing it a “rogue operator” after the firm sacked hundreds of workers in 2022 and replaced them with lower-paid agency staff.
The remarks triggered a 24-hour scramble in Downing Street after P&O’s owner threatened to pull a £1bn investment in a new Thames freeport - timed to coincide with the government’s crucial investment summit, causing the prime minister to publicly distance himself from the comments.
However, she was widely respected for her commitment and hands-on approach to reforming the railways.
Just one day before her resignation, flagship government plans to renationalise rail passenger services became law - something Ms Haigh said marked a “historic moment” and may later be seen as the 37-year-old’s legacy.
