Heidi Alexander has been appointed the government’s new transport secretary following the resignation of Louise Haigh on Friday morning.
Ms Haigh became the first minister to quit Sir Keir Starmer’s government after admitting she was convicted for making a false report to police over a mobile phone being stolen 10 years ago.
On Friday, Downing Street declined to clarify whether the prime minister knew about Ms Haigh’s criminal conviction when he appointed her to the role and said new information had come to light that led to her resignation.
Ms Alexander, who has been the MP for Swindon South since July’s general election, has been handed the role after previously serving as a justice minister.
From 2010 to 2018, she was the MP for Lewisham East, during which time she served as the shadow health secretary under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the party.
Between 2018 and 2021, she worked as Sadiq Khan’s deputy transport mayor.
Her predecessor’s resignation drew questions about Sir Keir’s judgement when it emerged on Thursday night that he had appointed Ms Haigh to his shadow cabinet in 2020 after it was claimed she had disclosed the offence to him.
An ally of Ms Haigh confirmed Sir Keir knew “all the facts” around her conviction when he appointed her to his shadow cabinet. At the time, the Labour leader was described as “extremely empathetic” to Ms Haigh.
But Sir Keir’s spokesman repeatedly told journalists that her resignation came after new information emerged.
“Following further information emerging, the prime minister has accepted Louise Haigh‘s resignation,” the spokesman said.
He did not confirm whether Sir Keir had known about the conviction or specify what the new information was.
Asked if the PM believed Ms Haigh was completely candid when she was appointed to his shadow cabinet, he said he would not “get into individual conversations”.
The incident involving the mobile phone took place when she was in her twenties in 2013 and she told police that she was mugged on a night out.
Ms Haigh, who was a special constable in the Metropolitan Police between 2009 and 2011 but was reportedly working for insurance giant Aviva at the time of the offence, said: “Sometime later I discovered that the mobile in question had not been taken. In the interim, I had been issued with another work phone.
“The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning. My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice.
“The police referred the matter to the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and I appeared before magistrates.”
She added it was a “genuine mistake” and she did not gain anything from it.
Ms Haigh, 37, had been the youngest member of the cabinet and was at the forefront of a socialist agenda in transport, with the renationalisation of rail and bringing buses back into public ownership. She also managed to secure a £1 billion investment in buses and £500 million for potholes, as well as trying to bring some settlement to the beleaguered HS2 project.
In her letter to the prime minister outlining her decision to resign, she described the incident as a “mistake” but added: “Whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government.”
Ms Haigh said she was “totally committed to our political project” but she would be better able to serve from outside the government.
“I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done,” she wrote. “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.”
In response to Ms Haigh’s letter, Sir Keir thanked her for her work and expressed optimism over her future ability to contribute to the government.
“You have made huge strides to take our rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways, investing £1bn in our vital bus services and lowering cost for motorists,” he wrote.
“I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”