Alexander takes over from Haigh as transport secretary

Starmer moves to fill key cabinet role after a surprise resignation

Heidi Alexander has been appointed as Labour’s new transport secretary following the unexpected departure of Louise Haigh, who resigned over a past conviction for fraud in connection with an incident in which she incorrectly reported her mobile phone had been stolen during a mugging.

The Swindon South MP had been serving as a justice minister until her promotion to the transport brief. She previously represented Lewisham East in the Commons from 2010 until 2018, when she resigned to take up a role as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for transport.

Louise Haigh resigned as transport secretary just hours after The Times and Sky News reported that she had pled guilty to fraud over a mobile phone fraud conviction 10 years ago.

Haigh had reported the phone stolen when she was mugged in 2013, but said she later discovered the handset in her house. She subsequently pleaded guilty to a criminal offence in 2014, admitting fraud by false representation at a magistrates’ court, which resulted in a conditional discharge.

The incident occurred six months before Haigh was elected MP for Sheffield Heeley in the 2015 General Election. She declared the conviction to Sir Keir Starmer in 2020 before she was appointed shadow Northern Ireland secretary.

Haigh, 37, became the youngest ever female Cabinet minister when she was appointed Transport Secretary in July 2024. Since then has been building her agenda for transport including bringing railways back in public ownership by the end of this Parliament and enabling all local leaders in England to take control of bus services.

Haigh’s resignation appears to have been swift, coming a day after she unveiled her vision for an integrated National Transport Strategy to “seamlessly” join all modes of transport together.

In a letter to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer she said: “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.

“I will always be grateful for the support you have shown me, and I take great pride in what we achieved since the election.”

She pointed to the Passenger Rail Services (Public Ownership) Bill to renationalise train services, which is about to become an Act of Parliament. “This is a once in a generation reform to our railways which will change our country for the better,” she told the prime minister.

“I am proud that we have also taken the first steps to putting buses back in the hands of passengers and local people, work which will be completed by the Buses Bill when it is laid next month.

“My appointment to your cabinet as the youngest ever woman remains one of the proudest achievements of my life, but not as proud as the steps we took to improve the lives of the British people. I remain totally committed to our political project, but I now believe it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government.”

She added: “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.”

In a short note, Starmer responded: “Thank you for all you have done to deliver this Government’s ambitious transport agenda. You have made huge strides to take our rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways, investing £1 billion in our vital bus services and lowering cost for motorists.

“I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”

Born in 1987 in Sheffield, Haigh studied politics at Nottingham University and law at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked as a shop steward for the union Unite and volunteered as a special constable in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary from 2009 to 2011.