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Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has resigned after it emerged she pleaded guilty to an offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

In a letter to the prime minister, she described the incident as a “mistake” but said that “whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government”.

It comes after Sky News revealed details of the offence last night, with Ms Haigh saying in a statement she had been “mugged on a night out” and told police her work phone had been among the items stolen, but discovered “some time later” this was not the case.

She alluded to Sir Keir knowing about this in her resignation letter, telling him: “As you know, in 2013 I was mugged in London. As a 24-year-old woman, the experience was terrifying. In the immediate aftermath, I reported the incident to the police.

“I gave the police a list of my possessions that I believed had been stolen, including my work phone. Some time later, I discovered that the handset in question was still in my house.

“I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake.”

Ms Haigh then said that while she is “totally committed to our political project,” she believes “it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government”.

The MP for Sheffield Heeley added: “I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done.

“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.”

In response, Sir Keir Starmer thanked Ms Haigh for “all you have done to deliver this government’s ambitious transport agenda” and said: “I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”

The letters were dated yesterday, 28th November, but only made public this morning.

Conviction just before 2015 election

Sky News understands Ms Haigh appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court six months before the 2015 general election, after making a false report to officers that her mobile phone had been stolen.

It’s understood her conviction is now classified as ‘spent’.

Three separate sources claimed to Sky News that she made the false report to benefit personally, with two of the sources alleging she wanted a more modern work handset that was being rolled out to her colleagues at the time.

The outgoing cabinet minister had been working as a public policy manager at Aviva, but two sources said she lost her job at the insurance firm because of the incident.

The incident was disclosed in full when Ms Haigh was appointed to the shadow cabinet, Sky News understands.

‘Genuine mistake’

In her statement last night, Ms Haigh called the incident a “genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain”.

She said she had been “issued with another work phone” in the interim between making the police report and discovering it had not been stolen, and was called in for questioning when the original device was switched on, which “triggered police attention”.

“My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice,” she said.

“The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before Southwark magistrates.”

Ms Haigh continued: “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.

“The magistrates accepted all of these arguments and gave me the lowest possible outcome (a discharge) available.”

Before entering politics, the MP was a special constable in the Metropolitan Police – serving between 2009 and 2011 in the South London Borough of Lambeth, close to where she was convicted several years later.

She was appointed shadow policing minister by Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and frequently drew on her experience in the Met when challenging the Tory government on the rising demands on officers.

As transport secretary, Ms Haigh appointed members of the board that oversees the British Transport Police.

In 2019 she said that Boris Johnson had “deceived the police” and committed a “serious breach of trust” over claims he politicised serving officers during a speech in West Yorkshire.

Sir Keir promoted the MP to shadow Northern Ireland secretary in 2020 before moving her to shadow transport secretary in 2021.

In this brief, she was an outspoken critic of the mass sacking of 800 workers by P&O Ferries in 2022. After becoming transport secretary, she accused P&O of being a “rogue operator” and called for a boycott of its services in October.

The comments caused the firm’s Dubai-based owner to review a planned £1bn UK port investment – something that was re-confirmed after ministers held urgent talks with the company.