Minister was advised to quit after not declaring her 2014 spent conviction for fraud

Louise Haigh, who resigned yesterday as transport minister, was advised to do so by No 10 for a possible breach of the ministerial code after she did not declare her spent conviction for fraud to the government when she became a cabinet minister.

- Rowena Mason Kiran Stacey Pippa Crerar

Sources said Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer's chief of staff, delivered the message to the UK transport secretary on Thursday night that it would be best for her to resign.

They said Haigh had not declared the 2014 conviction for wrongly reporting a mobile phone stolen to the police, because she was asked only about unspent offences. She had pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation and received a conditional discharge.

Three sources said Haigh had told Starmer about the conviction when she became shadow Northern Ireland secretary in 2020. However, Starmer's official spokesperson refused to confirm yesterday whether the prime minister knew about the conviction at any point.

In a briefing with reporters, the spokesperson repeated the same line that "following further information emerging, the prime minister has accepted Louise Haigh's resignation".