UK: Labour MP for Swindon South Heidi Alexander was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport on November 29, following the resignation of Louise Haigh the previous evening.
Alexander was MP for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018, when she stepped down from parliament to become Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Transport. She returned to parliament as MP for Swindon South in July this year, and was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice from July 8 to November 29.
Haigh resigned after The Times and Sky News reported that before becoming an MP in 2015, she had pleaded guilty to making a false report to police after incorrectly saying a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.
In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh wrote ’this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government and the policies to which we are both committed’.
In his brief reply, Starmer said Haigh had ‘made huge strides to take our rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways, investing £1bn in our vital bus services and lowering costs for motorists. I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.’
Responses
Railway Industry Association Chief Executive Darren Caplan thanked Haigh for her work as Transport Secretary. He said ‘the new Secretary of State’s experience in devolved government will be an asset in working with metro mayors to increase north-south rail capacity in the future which can support the strong passenger and freight growth levels forecast in the decades ahead.’
Logistics UK said Alexander ’must seize the opportunity to drive Labour’s growth mission by prioritising logistics and acknowledging its foundational role in the economy’. Chief Executive David Wells added that ’frustratingly, by appointing herself “Passenger in Chief”, Louise Haigh failed to recognise the role of commercial transport in delivering the government’s top growth mission, or how to leverage logistics and supply chains to achieve this’.
