Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has admitted she mislead police in 2014.
The cabinet minister has admitted to wrongly telling officers that her phone had been stolen as a Labour parliamentary candidate prior to the 2015 general election.
Ms Haigh gave police a list of items she thought had been snatched while she was ‘mugged’ during a night out in 2013, including her work mobile, which she later discovered had not been taken.
She said that she regretted remaining silent on advice from a solicitor while being interviewd by officers who detected her work phone being switched on.
The incident allegedly cost the now Labour MP her job as a public policy manager at insurance firm Aviva.
But despite her insisting this was a ‘genuine mistake’, sources suggest the Transport Secretary wanted to be upgraded to a newer phone being rolled out in the company at the time.
‘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’, she told Sky News.
She added: ‘I was a young woman and the experience was terrifying.’
Transport Secretary has admitted she mislead police that her phone had been stolen in 2014
She appeared before Camberwell Green Magistrates Court after officers referred her case to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Ms Haigh previously served for two years as special constable with the Metropolitan Police in the Borough of Lambeth.
After being elected to represent Sheffield Heeley in 2015, Ms Haigh served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, including as Shadow Policing Minister.
She was then appointed as Shadow Transport Secretary by Sir Keir Starmer in 2021.
As Transport Secretary, she has become known for her outspoken criticism of P&O Ferries, including encouraging viewers to join her in boycotting the ‘rogue operator’.
She was publicly rebuked by the Prime Minister, who insisted this was not the position of the Government.
Ms Haigh also vowed to ‘rip up the roots of Thatcherism’ on bus and rail reform.
