A former deputy to London mayor Sadiq Khan has been made the new Transport Secretary.

Sir Keir Starmer revealed Heidi Alexander would replace Louise Haigh, who resigned early this morning over an historic fraud conviction. 

Ms Alexander, 49, was elected as MP for Swindon South in July, having been MP for Lewisham East in London from 2010 to 2018, during which time she was in Jeremy Corbyn‘s shadow cabinet.

She left the Commons to become Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for transport. She was made the Courts Minister by Mr Starmer after July’s election win. 

A No10 spokesman said: ‘She brings extensive experience to the role having previously served as deputy mayor for transport.

‘She will continue the work this Government has been driving forward.’

Ms Haigh, 37, became the first ministerial casualty of Keir Starmer‘s government after it emerged she appeared in court for wrongly claiming her mobile phone had been stolen in a mugging.

But it was also claimed that the Sheffield Heeley MP – a former special constable and shadow policing minister – revealed her spent conviction when she joined Sir Keir’s team four years ago.

Ms Haigh, who is seen as a leading member of Labour‘s ‘soft left’, was one of the longest-serving members of the shadow and full cabinet, having been appointed interim shadow Northern Ireland secretary in 2020 and shadow transport secretary the following year.

She was working for insurance giant Aviva when she was convicted, and became an MP the following year.  

A Conservative Party spokesman said this ‘raises questions as to why the Prime Minister appointed Ms Haigh to Cabinet with responsibility for a £30bn budget’.

‘The onus is now on Keir Starmer to explain this obvious failure of judgement to the British public,’ they added.