A former London deputy mayor has been named as the new transport secretary.
Heidi Alexander, who held the transport brief for Sadiq Khan for three years, has replaced Louise Haigh, who resigned from the post following media revelations that she had a historic conviction for fraud.
Among the items on Alexander’s in-tray is working out how to fund the construction of HS2 to Euston and making a decision on whether to proceed with the Lower Thames Crossing.
Last month Haigh also announced greater ministerial oversight of the HS2 project, whose project delivery she denounced as “dire”, and commissioned an independent review into the delivery of major transport projects.
Under her leadership, the Department for Transport was working on plans to bring the railways back into public ownership.
Alexander served under Khan from 2018-2021, starting in post a few months before delays and cost overruns were announced on Crossrail. She played a prominent role during arguments around when the mayor found out about the problems on the project.
The Elizabeth Line eventually came into service in May 2022, five months after she stepped down from the City Hall post.
In a comment piece, Financial Times associate editor Stephen Bush described Haigh as one of the “most effective” operators in government.
Sir Keir Starmer “has now lost one of the ministers who had shown an ability to get things done and passed. Whoever replaces her will have the difficult task of implementing a new approach they did not set,” Bush said.
Haigh said in her resignation letter that she was mugged in London in a “terrifying” incident when she was 24 years old. She said she believed her work phone was among the stolen possessions but later found out that it had not been and did not tell her employer about the “mistake” immediately.
Glenn Lyons, president of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) and Mott MacDonald professor of future mobility at UWE Bristol, wrote in a personal post on LinkedIn that Haigh came across as a professional and authentic minister.
He said: “My summary sense is this: the youngest ever woman in the cabinet of government was mugged several years ago at the age of 24 and as a result of that has chosen to step down.
“This comes a day after a fully-booked DfT/CIHT conference that took place in London on the topic of…. ‘Anti-Social Behaviour & Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport’. You can’t make this stuff up.”
He added: “While it is nice to be reminded of the old days when politicians admitted wrongdoing and resigned (rather than being convicted felons and running for office), this feels like a sad day for the future of UK transport when the notion of wrongdoing seems questionable. We have lost someone who was set to make a big difference and this saddens me.”
Swindon South MP Alexander has been a junior minister in the Ministry of Justice since July.
