Louise Haigh

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The Right Honourable
Louise Haigh
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Secretary of State for Transport
In office
5 July 2024 – 28 November 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byMark Harper
Succeeded byHeidi Alexander
Shadow portfolios
Shadow Secretary of State
2021–2024Transport
2020–2021Northern Ireland
Shadow Minister
2017–2020Policing
2016–2017Digital Economy
2015–2016Civil Service and Digital Reform
Member of Parliament
for Sheffield Heeley
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byMeg Munn
Majority15,304 (39.8%)
Personal details
Born
Louise Margaret Haigh

Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham

Louise Margaret Haigh (/heɪɡ/) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Heeley since 2015. She held various shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet portfolios between 2015 and 2024.

Born in Sheffield, Haigh was privately educated at Sheffield High School and later studied at the University of Nottingham. She later worked in Parliament, before working as a public policy manager at Aviva. Haigh was elected to Parliament as MP for Sheffield Heeley in the 2015 general election, and joined the shadow frontbench as Shadow Minister for the Civil Service and Digital Reform under Jeremy Corbyn. She became the Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy in 2016, and was re-elected in the 2017 general election. She was the Shadow Minister for Policing from 2017 to 2020, and was re-elected in the 2019 general election.

After Keir Starmer became Leader of the Opposition in 2020, Haigh joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In November 2021, she became the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Haigh was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport in the Starmer ministry. On 28 November 2024, it emerged that Haigh had pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation in 2014 after falsely reporting in 2013 to police that her work phone had been stolen; she subsequently resigned as Transport Secretary.

Early life and career

Louise Haigh was born in Sheffield, and grew up on Abbeydale Road.[1] Her grandfather and uncle were trade union officials.[2] She was educated at Sheffield High School, a private school.[3] She then studied government and economics at the London School of Economics but did not complete the course, opting to study politics at the University of Nottingham.[4]

After graduating, Haigh worked for the local council youth service from 2006 to 2008. She then began working in Parliament, where she was the co-ordinator of the all party parliamentary group on international corporate responsibility.[2] During this time, she was also a Unite shop steward and volunteered as a special constable in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary from 2009 to 2011.[5]

From 2012 until her election in 2015, Haigh worked for insurer Aviva as public policy manager, responsible for corporate governance and responsible investment policy.[5][6][7]

Parliamentary career

Haigh was selected to stand for the Labour Party in Sheffield Heeley in May 2014.[8] At the 2015 general election she was elected to Parliament as MP for Sheffield Heeley with 48.2% of the vote and a majority of 12,954.[9][10]

Early career and frontbench (2015–2020)

MP portrait, 2017

In September 2015, Haigh was appointed Shadow Minister for Civil Service and Digital Reform.[11][12] The role, newly expanded under Jeremy Corbyn,[13] covered the Government's digital strategy, the Freedom of Information Act, data security and privacy.[14] In this role, Haigh criticised a 2016 reshuffle of Permanent Secretaries which saw two fewer women as departmental heads.[15] She opposed the closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office in Sheffield city centre, saying the decision demonstrated "contempt" for the city.[16]

Haigh was declared the "most hard-working" new MP in February 2016 after a study of the activity of MPs elected in 2015.[17][18][19]

In September 2016, Haigh was instrumental in revealing that hundreds of women had their tax credits stopped in error by US company Concentrix.[20] The revelation led to an announcement that their HMRC contract would not be renewed.[21]

Panic alarms were installed in Haigh's office and home by South Yorkshire Police in December 2016 after she received death threats for calling for a debate on the banning of Britain First, the far-right group. South Yorkshire Police provided her with uniformed and undercover protection as she attended to her constituency activities.[22]

On 10 October 2016, she was made Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy.[23] Haigh served in this role during the passage of the Digital Economy Act (2017) and introduced a number of amendments, including an obligation for television broadcasters to include subtitles and closed captioning in on-demand content online which was adopted by a subsequent Government amendment.[24] She has repeatedly raised concerns about child protection online, including calling for social media companies to recognise "that alongside their new-found power, they have responsibilities" in dealing with harmful and illegal content.[25]

At the snap 2017 general election, Haigh was re-elected with an increased vote share of 60% and an increased majority of 13,828.[26]

On 3 July 2017, she was made Shadow Policing Minister.[27] Haigh has called for greater protection for police officers involved in vehicle pursuits, saying the current rules are "hampering the ability of the police to apprehend very serious offenders".[28] In this role she has raised the issue of stress and mental health of officers, citing a 77% rise in officer leave due to mental health problems between 2014 and 2018.[29] She has called for a "public health approach" to reducing violent crime[30] and blamed the rise in crime on government spending cuts to both police and other public services.[31]

MP portrait, 2019

Haigh was a member of a number of all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs), including the APPGs on corporate governance, refugees, Colombia and looked-after children. In July 2017 she was elected vice chair of the APPG on state pension inequality and in February 2019 became a joint chair of the APPG on social care.[32][33]

In October 2018, Haigh stated her concern that forcing police to find more to pay for police pensions out of their general budget leaves less money for the police to protect the public. She stated, "Forcing the police at the last minute to bear the huge cost of pension changes demonstrates the utter failure of ministers to grasp the crisis in policing caused by their cuts. They have played fast and loose with public safety and the police are right to step up and take action".[34] She also believes it is wrong that the police are forced to deal with mental health crises, at the root of which lies the chronic underfunding of the NHS, saying: “The government’s underfunding of mental health services is a national scandal and passing the buck to our overstretched police officers is exacerbating the crisis in policing. It is frankly shocking that the police are often the only people who someone experiencing a mental health crisis can turn to. Nearly a decade of brutal austerity has torn at the fabric of our society and the most vulnerable are being failed”.[35]

In April 2019 Haigh introduced a private member's bill that would remove the automatic parental rights of fathers of children conceived through rape. The bill would also establish an inquiry into the family court's handling of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.[36] This Bill was borne out of Haigh's work with Sammy Woodhouse, a survivor of child sexual exploitation, to increase protections for victims of abuse.[37]

At the 2019 general election, Haigh was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.3% and a decreased majority of 8,520.[38]

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary (2020–2021)

On 6 April 2020, Haigh replaced Tony Lloyd as the interim Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Starmer shadow cabinet, following Lloyd's hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19.[39] On 28 April 2020, Lloyd resigned as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary to focus on recovery, and Haigh replaced him permanently.[40] She is the second woman after Mo Mowlam to serve as the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Haigh made her first visit to Northern Ireland as Shadow Secretary of State in August 2020.[41] After Brexit she was in charge of Northern Ireland policy in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol. She said “We’re a unionist party in the Labour Party, but if there is a border poll we should remain neutral. I think that’s an important principle." Haigh was criticised for undermining the views of Keir Starmer who said he would side with unionists in any poll.[42]

Shadow Transport Secretary (2021–2024)

During the shadow cabinet reshuffle, Haigh was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport on 29 November 2021.[43] She was replaced as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary by Peter Kyle.[44]

Haigh revealed Labour's plans for the renationalisation of British rail on 25 April 2024,[45] pledging to do this in the first term of a Labour government.[46]

Official cabinet portrait, 2024

Transport Secretary (2024)

Haigh was again re-elected at the 2024 general election, with an increased vote share of 55.2% and an increased majority of 15,304.[47][48] She was appointed as the Secretary of State for Transport by Starmer on 5 July 2024 in the Starmer ministry.[49] She was sworn into the Privy Council on 10 July 2024, entitling her to be styled "The Right Honourable" for life.[50]

While promoting the government's new Employment Rights Bill in a television interview on 9 October, Haigh urged viewers to join her in boycotting P&O Ferries after the firm had sacked hundreds of its workers with immediate notice two years prior.[51] Speaking to ITV News, she called P&O "a rogue operator" and said it needed "cracking down on".[52] Haigh was publicly rebuked by Starmer, who stipulated that her view was "not the view of the government".[53] The incident came only days before a government-led international investment summit, that P&O's parent company, DP World, attended despite the controversy.[54]

Resignation

On 28 November 2024, it emerged that Haigh had pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation relating to misleading police in 2014.[55] In a statement, Haigh said that she had been mugged on a night out in 2013 whilst working as a public policy manager for the insurer Aviva. She said that she had given the police a list of items that she thought were missing from her handbag, which wrongly included her mobile work phone supplied by Aviva.[56] She was issued with a new phone by her employer, but Haigh said she later discovered her old phone in a drawer which she switched on.[57] Haigh said that this signal was picked up on by Aviva and they alerted it to the police, who called in Haigh for police questioning to make a statement.[58] During the interview with the police, Haigh said that her solicitor had advised her "not to comment", and she did not respond to questions about the use of the phone when approached for comment.[59][60] A case file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and she was charged with fraud by false representation. Six months before she was elected as an MP at the 2015 general election in November 2014, Haigh pleaded guilty when she appeared at the Camberwell Green magistrates' court, and received a conditional discharge.[61]

Starmer spoke to Haigh on the night of 28 November and said that it would be better for her and the government if she stood down; Haigh agreed and subsequently resigned as Transport Secretary that night.[61] The Prime Minister's spokesperson said in a briefing with reporters on 29 November that Starmer accepted Haigh's resignation following "further information emerging".[62] In a letter to Starmer, Haigh stated that whilst she was "totally committed to our political project," she believed it would be best served supporting him from "outside government".[63][64] Haigh also said that the issue would "inevitably be a distraction" from delivering on the work and policies of the government, but said she took "pride" in what they had done.[60] In response, Starmer said that Haigh had made "huge strides" as Transport Secretary, and that she still had a "huge contribution to make in the future".[65] She was succeeded as Transport Secretary by Heidi Alexander.[66]

Return to the backbenches (2024–)

On 29 November 2024, following her resignation from government, Haigh voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.[67]

Political positions

Haigh was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015,[68] although she later said she regretted this decision.[69] She then supported and campaigned for Andy Burnham.[70] In the 2016 Labour leadership election, Haigh supported Owen Smith.[71]

In the 2020 leadership election, Haigh chaired the leadership campaign of Lisa Nandy, who came second to Keir Starmer.[72] She also nominated Angela Rayner for deputy in the 2020 deputy leadership election, which Rayner won.

Haigh supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign during the 2016 European Union membership referendum.[73]

Haigh has previously called for compulsory online education alongside sex and relationships education in schools, citing an 800% increase in children contacting the NSPCC about online abuse.[74]

References

  1. ^ "About Louise". 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Louise Haigh". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. ^ Beardmore, Ellen (13 August 2014). "Sheffield Heeley candidate could be youngest MP". The Star. Sheffield. Retrieved 16 June 2015.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Louise Haigh MP – Sheffield Girls School". Sheffield Girls High School. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Profiles: Louise Haigh". 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Louise Haigh". Labour Party. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Towards an agreement on corporate sustainability reporting" (PDF). Aviva Investors. 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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  15. ^ Foster, Matt (6 June 2016). "Louise Haigh interview: the shadow Cabinet Office minister on Jeremy Corbyn, Whitehall diversity – and why the Tories have "always understood" civil service reform". Civil Service World. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  16. ^ Foster, Matt (26 May 2016). "BIS Sheffield closure confirmed – full details and reaction from staff, unions and MPs". Civil Service World.
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  18. ^ "'Least active MP' Royston Smith defends record". BBC News. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  19. ^ Proctor, Kate (25 February 2016). "Louise Haigh most hard-working of all new MPs". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  20. ^ "HMRC to axe tax credit checking firm Concentrix". 13 September 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  21. ^ Byrne, Paul (13 September 2016). "Concentrix to be stripped of HMRC contract over tax credits blunders". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  22. ^ Pidd, Helen; Perraudin, Frances (15 December 2016). "Female MP received death threats for calling for ban on Britain First". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
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  28. ^ Haigh, Louise (4 August 2017). "How can the police stop criminals on mopeds if they can't pursue them?". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  29. ^ Haigh, Louise (13 July 2018). "This week has seen policing stretched to its limit – time to admit cuts have cost us dear". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  30. ^ "Louise Haigh MP on Twitter". Twitter. 24 July 2018.
  31. ^ Haigh, Louise (24 April 2018). "Rising Crime Nationwide – And in South Yorkshire". Web site of Louise Haigh MP, Labour.
  32. ^ "Vice Chair of State Pension Inequality APPG". www.louisehaigh.org.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  33. ^ "Launching an APPG on Social Care". Louise Haigh. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  34. ^ Dodd, Vikram (30 October 2018). "Police to sue government unless it backs down over cuts". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  35. ^ "NHS failings 'forcing police to respond to mental health incidents rather than crimes', report finds". Independent. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  36. ^ "Parental Rights (Rapists) and Family Courts Bill 2017–19 — UK Parliament". services.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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  44. ^ "Peter Kyle profile: NI's new Shadow Secretary replacing Louise Haigh an advocate for dyslexia and EU supporter". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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  52. ^ Christopher Jasper, "£1bn blow to Starmer’s push for growth: P&O Ferries owner shelves port expansion after Transport Secretary brands firm a ‘rogue operator’", The Daily Telegraph, 11 October 2024, archived at archive.ph
  53. ^ Mason, Chris (12 October 2024). "Starmer rebukes minister over P&O 'boycott' call". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  54. ^ Ambrose, Tom (12 October 2024). "P&O owner to attend UK investment summit despite minister's criticism". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  55. ^ Mason, Rowena (28 November 2024). "Louise Haigh has conviction for fraud by misrepresentation relating to a mobile". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  56. ^ "Louise Haigh admits pleading guilty to 2014 criminal offence". BBC News. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  57. ^ Stacey, Kiran (29 November 2024). "Louise Haigh: Labour's outspoken young survivor is derailed by her past". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
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  62. ^ Mason, Rowena; Stacey, Kiran; Crerar, Pippa; Courea, Eleni (29 November 2024). "Louise Haigh 'told to quit by No 10 over possible breach of ministerial code'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
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  66. ^ "Heidi Alexander named new transport secretary after Louise Haigh's resignation over mobile phone guilty plea". Sky News. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  67. ^ "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading". Votes in Parliament. 29 November 2024.
  68. ^ "Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election". New Statesman. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  69. ^ "Labour frontbencher Louise Haigh says she 'regrets' nominating Jeremy Corbyn as leader". ITV News. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  70. ^ Haigh, Louise (10 June 2015). "Here's why I'm backing Andy Burnham to lead Labour back to power". New Statesman. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  71. ^ Haigh, Louise (21 July 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn has served Labour well. But Owen Smith is the leader we need". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  72. ^ "Why The Labour Leadership Could Become A Two-Horse Race On Tuesday". HuffPost. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  73. ^ Haigh, Louise (23 June 2016). "Vote Remain today: Sheffield is better off in the EU – Louise Haigh, Labour Member of Parliament for Sheffield Heeley". Louisehaigh.org.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  74. ^ Haigh, Louise (21 November 2016). "Why Our 'Smartphone Generation' Deserve Statutory Online Education". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Sheffield Heeley
2015–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
2021–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Transport
2024 		Succeeded by
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