Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman has declined more than a dozen times to say why Sir Keir Starmer appointed Louise Haigh to the Cabinet despite knowing she had a conviction for fraud.
Downing Street declined to clarify whether the Prime Minister knew about Louise Haigh’s criminal conviction and appeared to suggest that new information had come to light that led to her resignation.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman would only say that Sir Keir accepted her resignation, the first the Labour government has suffered since the July election, “following further information emerging”.
He said: “The Prime Minister has accepted her resignation and she has acknowledged that the issue will inevitably be a distraction on delivering the work of Government.”
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer knew about Ms Haigh’s conviction when he appointed her to the Cabinet, he said: “Following further information emerging, the Prime Minister has accepted Louise Haigh’s resignation.”
He did not specify what the new information was. He said he would not “get into individual conversations”, saying only that ministers are expected to adhere to the ministerial code.
Asked whether she was asked to resign or offered, he said: “She resigned.”
Ms Haigh resigned as Transport Secretary after it emerged she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.
It is understood the incident was disclosed to Sir Keir when she joined the shadow cabinet.
Asked if Sir Keir believed Ms Haigh was completely candid when she was appointed to his
shadow cabinet, he said he would not “get into individual conversations”.
He repeated that ministers are expected to adhere to the ministerial code, but did not say how the ministerial code applied to Ms Haigh’s resignation.
