Transport Secretary Louise Haigh admits pleading guilty to offence in connection with misleading police in 2014

Published

7 months ago

November 28, 2024

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Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has admitted pleading guilty to an offence connected with misleading the police while a parliamentary candidate in 2014, Sky News can reveal.

Sky News understands Ms Haigh appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court six months before the 2015 general election, after making a false report to officers that her mobile phone had been stolen.

Ms Haigh said she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013. She then reported the incident to the police and gave officers a list of items she believed had been taken – including a work mobile phone.

In a statement to Sky News, the transport secretary said she discovered “some time later” that “the mobile in question had not been taken”.

She added: “In the interim, I had been issued with another work phone.”

The transport secretary said: “The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning.

“My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice.

“The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before Southwark magistrates.”

Ms Haigh continued: “Under the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty – despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain.

“The magistrates accepted all of these arguments and gave me the lowest possible outcome (a discharge) available.”

It’s understood her conviction is now classified as ‘spent’.

However, three separate sources claimed she made the false report to benefit personally, with two of the sources alleging she wanted a more modern work handset that was being rolled out to her colleagues at the time.

The now cabinet minister had been working as a public policy manager at Aviva, but two sources said she lost her job at the insurance firm because of the incident.

Her government profile states she left this role in 2015 before becoming the MP for Sheffield Heeley at that year’s general election.

Sky News understands the incident was disclosed in full when Ms Haigh was appointed to the shadow cabinet.

In the statement given to Sky News, the transport secretary said: “I was a young woman and the experience was terrifying.”

Conservative Party Chairman Nigel Huddleston told Sky News the revelations are “extremely concerning”.

He added: “Keir Starmer has serious questions to answer regarding what he knew and when about the person he appointed as transport secretary admitting to having misled the police.”

Before entering politics, the transport secretary was a special constable in the Metropolitan Police – serving between 2009 and 2011 in the South London Borough of Lambeth, close to where she was convicted several years later.

She was appointed shadow policing minister by Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and frequently drew on her experience in the Met when challenging the Tory government on the rising demands on officers.

As transport secretary, Ms Haigh appoints members of the board that oversees the British Transport Police.

In 2019 she said that Boris Johnson had “deceived the police” and committed a “serious breach of trust” over claims he politicised serving officers during a speech in West Yorkshire.

Sir Keir Starmer promoted the Sheffield MP to shadow Northern Ireland secretary in 2020 before moving her to shadow transport secretary in 2021.

In this brief she has been an outspoken critic of the mass sacking of 800 workers by P&O Ferries in 2022.

In October, while transport secretary, she accused P&O of being a “rogue operator” and called for a boycott of its services.

The comments caused the firm’s Dubai-based owner to review a planned £1bn UK port investment – something that was re-confirmed after ministers held urgent talks with the company.

But she was publicly rebuked by Sir Keir who said her opinions were “not the view of the government”.

With connections to former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray, there has been speculation her cabinet role could be under threat in a future reshuffle.

Ms Gray’s son, Labour MP Liam Conlon, is Ms Haigh’s parliamentary private secretary and acts as her “eyes and ears” in parliament, while another of her former employees also worked for the former chief of staff before she was sacked after losing a power struggle within Number 10.

As transport secretary, Ms Haigh was one of a handful of cabinet ministers who complained to the Treasury about impending cuts in the budget.

She is considered to be one of the more left-wing members of the cabinet and has vowed to “rip up the roots of Thatcherism” with her plans for rail and bus reform.

In 2015, Ms Haigh was one of a number of Labour MPs to nominate Mr Corbyn for leader – a decision she later said she regretted.

Politics

Latest polling says if an election was held tomorrow Reform UK would win a majority

Published

9 hours ago

June 21, 2025

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Latest polling says if an election was held tomorrow Reform UK would win a majority

Since the local elections Reform UK has had no shortage of good polls.

But a new one suggests Nigel Farage’s party has a chance not only of winning the next election, but of claiming a decent Commons majority, too.

In February, Reform topped a Sky News/YouGov poll for the first time, with Nigel Farage’s party edging in front on 25%, Labour pushed into second on 24%, with the Tories on 21%.

But a fresh one from Ipsos puts Reform on 34%, nine points ahead of Labour on 25%, with the Conservatives a distant third on 15%.

While the other parties are flatlining, Reform appears to be pushing boundaries.

Were these figures to be replicated across the country at a general election, with every constituency behaving the same way, then Reform could win as many as 340 seats, giving it a majority of 30, Sky News analysis suggests.

Labour could be reduced to 176 seats, down 236 on last year’s election, while the Tories would hit a record low of 12 seats.

But polling should always be taken with a pinch of salt and with the firm acknowledgement that there is not an election coming any time soon.

Conservative backbenchers might also tell you publicly that opinion polls are notoriously difficult to translate into seat numbers because voting percentages in individual constituencies can vary hugely from the overall average.

But the truth is that the symbolism of Reform UK topping another poll is likely to be noticed by MPs from all parties, especially backbench Conservatives who have actively been hoping their leader, Kemi Badenoch, can help them climb the polls and bring the party back into public favour.

Politics is a brutal game and when it comes to toppling underwhelming party leaders, the Tories are more ruthless than most. One wonders how many of these polls Mrs Badenoch’s party will allow her to endure.

This poll is also a warning to Labour.

As the party approaches a year since its major victory, it will not have much to celebrate if these numbers are anything to go by.

According to this survey, only 19% are satisfied with the job Sir Keir Starmer is doing as prime minister, with 73% dissatisfied.

And the figure of 25% of voters intending to vote Labour is a level not seen since October 2019.

While abstract to much of the public, polling can often shape not only the chatter inside Westminster but how and when plots by MPs begin.

For Reform UK, this is a much-needed morale boost after a surprise resignation by their former Chairman Zia Yusuf, and then an almost immediate U-turn back into the party.

And Kemi Badenoch – who said during her leadership campaign that the Conservatives needed to go back to first principles and that this would take time – will be wondering, seven-and-a-half months after winning the leadership, how much time she really has left.

Ipsos interviewed a representative probability sample of 1,180 British adults aged 18+, via the Ipsos UK KnowledgePanel. Data was collected between 30 May-4 June 2025.