Louise Haigh quits as transport secretary over phone offence

Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary after pleading guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, Haigh said she was “totally committed to our political project” but that it would be “best served by my supporting you from outside government”.

Her resignation comes a day after she admitted that she told police she had lost her phone during a mugging on a night out but later found it had not been taken.

She said it was a “genuine mistake” but had been advised by a lawyer “not to comment” during a police interview. The police then referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, she said.

She said she pleaded guilty to making a false report to police at a magistrates’ court six months before becoming an MP in the 2015 election, and received a discharge – the “lowest possible outcome”.

Whitehall sources told the BBC that the transport secretary declared her discharge on appointment to the shadow cabinet when the Labour Party was in opposition.

Starmer thanked Haigh for her work to deliver the government’s transport agenda.

In her letter, Haigh said that she appreciated “whatever the facts of the matter” that the issue would “inevitably be a distraction”.

Haigh said that her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest achievements of my life”.

“I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done,” she said, adding that she would continue to work for her constituents in Sheffield.

A discharge is a type of conviction where a court finds the person guilty but does not give them a sentence because the offence is considered very minor.