Labour’s Transport Secretary, Haigh, resigned following the revelation that she had pleaded guilty to a fraud offence a decade ago. The resignation came after details emerged of the conviction, which she reportedly disclosed to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in 2020 when he appointed her to his shadow cabinet.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch questioned why Sir Keir had appointed a “convicted fraudster” to such a significant position. In response, Sir Keir stated that Haigh was right to resign “when new information came to light,” but declined to provide further details when pressed by Badenoch. “I’m not going to disclose private information,” he added, while also contrasting Haigh’s swift resignation with the actions of the previous Conservative government. He accused Badenoch of focusing on “Westminster issues” instead of the country’s needs.
Badenoch, however, accused Sir Keir of “obfuscating” and demanded a more detailed explanation. “The country needs conviction politicians, not politicians with convictions,” she said, referring to Haigh’s past.
In a rebuttal, Sir Keir pointed out that Badenoch’s predecessors, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, both received fixed penalty notices for breaching Covid-19 rules. He argued that fixed penalty notices are not considered criminal convictions, provided fines are paid on time. A Labour source later added, “If the Conservatives want to argue about the extent of their criminality in office, that’s fine by us.”
Haigh’s resignation marks the first resignation from a Labour minister since the party took office in July. The controversy began on Thursday evening when Sky News and The Times revealed the details of her past conviction. Haigh subsequently issued a statement clarifying the incident, which occurred in 2013 while she was working for insurance company Aviva. She had reported a mugging, during which a work phone was stolen, but later found the phone at home. Turning the phone on triggered police attention, leading to a charge for making a false report.
Haigh explained that she pleaded guilty on her solicitor’s advice, despite claiming the incident was an honest mistake and no personal gain was involved. She received a conditional discharge just six months before becoming an MP in the 2015 general election.
After the conviction details emerged, Haigh sent a resignation letter to Sir Keir, stating that she did not want her past to become a distraction. Whitehall sources revealed she had informed Sir Keir of the conviction in 2020 but did not disclose it to the government’s propriety and ethics team when she joined the cabinet after Labour’s election victory. A Downing Street spokesperson declined to confirm what Sir Keir knew about the conviction, only stating that he accepted Haigh’s resignation following the emergence of “further information.”
