Heidi Alexander replaces Louise Haigh as Transport Secretary
Louise Haigh has stepped down from her position as Secretary of State for Transport, after offering the Prime Minister her resignation last night. It makes her the first of Starmer's cabinet to step down since they were assembled in July 2024. Heidi Alexander has since taken the role and will head the Department for Transport.
Haigh's resignation comes after Sky News reported that she pleaded guilty to a fraud offence over a decade ago. While that conviction has now been 'spent', meaning it would not appear on a criminal record, it was enough to bring her career at the DfT to an end. She will remain a Labour MP, albeit no longer sitting on the front bench.
While serving as a cabinet minister, Haigh's work included extending the bus fare cap and introducing legislation to Parliament for the nationalisation of the railways. As recently as yesterday, she set out her vision for integrated local transport across England, along the lines of the 'Bee Network' implemented in Manchester.
Within 24 hours, Heidi Alexander, Member of Parliament for Swindon South, was appointed to fill the vacancy. After being elected in July and then until being promoted to the cabinet on 29 November 2024, she served as Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services.
Despite previously being based in the Ministry of Justice, Alexander is not new to transport policy. She was Deputy Mayor of London for Transport between 2018 and 2021, responsible for Transport for London and working alongside Sadiq Kahn. Before this, she was the MP for Lewisham East between 2010 and 2018.
Suffice to say, the DfT will have an experienced Labour politician at the helm. Not that Louise Haigh wasn't experienced, it's just that she's... no longer there.
"I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done," wrote Haigh in her resignation letter. "I will continue to fight every day for the people of Sheffield Heeley who I was first and foremost elected to represent and to ensure that the rest of our programme is delivered in full."
