Louise Haigh, the British Transport Minister, resigned on Friday after revelations surfaced about her decade-old fraud conviction. In 2013, Haigh pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation after falsely claiming her work mobile phone had been stolen during a mugging. However, she later discovered the phone was not stolen and had been reactivated.
In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh explained that while the incident was a “genuine mistake” and she did not profit from it, the matter could distract from the government’s work. She wrote, “I remain totally committed to our political project, but now I believe it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government.”
Haigh, 37, who has represented Sheffield as a Labour MP since 2015, further explained that her solicitor advised her to plead guilty. Despite the “genuine mistake,” the court granted her a conditional discharge, the lowest possible sentence.
This resignation comes after the story was covered by British media, leading Haigh to step down to avoid the issue becoming a distraction to the government’s agenda.