Louise Margaret Haigh (/heɪɡ/) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024.

Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Haigh was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport in the Starmer ministry.

[11][12] The role, newly expanded under Jeremy Corbyn,[13] covered the Government's digital strategy, the Freedom of Information Act, data security and privacy.

[17][18][19] In September 2016, Haigh was instrumental in revealing that hundreds of women had their tax credits stopped in error by US company Concentrix.

[21] Panic alarms were installed in Haigh's office and home by South Yorkshire Police in December 2016 after she received death threats for calling for a debate on the banning of Britain First, the far-right group.

[24] She has repeatedly raised concerns about child protection online, including calling for social media companies to recognise "that alongside their new-found power, they have responsibilities" in dealing with harmful and illegal content.

[35] In April 2019 Haigh introduced a private member's bill that would remove the automatic parental rights of fathers of children conceived through rape.

The bill would also establish an inquiry into the family court's handling of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.

[36] This Bill was borne out of Haigh's work with Sammy Woodhouse, a survivor of child sexual exploitation, to increase protections for victims of abuse.

[39] On 28 April 2020, Lloyd resigned as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary to focus on recovery, and Haigh replaced him permanently.

[50] While promoting the government's new Employment Rights Bill in a television interview on 9 October, Haigh urged viewers to join her in boycotting P&O Ferries after the firm had sacked hundreds of its workers with immediate notice two years prior.

[53] The incident came only days before a government-led international investment summit, that P&O's parent company, DP World, attended despite the controversy.

[54] On 28 November 2024, it emerged that Haigh had pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation relating to misleading police in 2014.

[55] In a statement, Haigh said that she had been mugged on a night out in 2013 whilst working as a public policy manager for the insurer Aviva.

She said that she had given the police a list of items that she thought were missing from her handbag, which wrongly included her mobile work phone supplied by Aviva.

[61] The Prime Minister's spokesperson said in a briefing with reporters on 29 November that Starmer accepted Haigh's resignation following "further information emerging".

[62] In a letter to Starmer, Haigh stated that whilst she was "totally committed to our political project," she believed it would be best served supporting him from "outside government".

[66] On 29 November 2024, following her resignation from government, Haigh voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.