29 Facts About Louise Haigh

Louise Margaret Haigh was born on 22 July 1987 and is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport since 2021.

Louise Haigh served as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2021.

Louise Haigh was educated at Sheffield High School, an independent school.

Louise Haigh then studied government and economics at the London School of Economics but did not complete the course, and opted to study politics at the University of Nottingham.

Louise Haigh then began working in Parliament, where she was the co-ordinator of the all party parliamentary group on international corporate responsibility.

From 2012, Louise Haigh worked for Aviva as public policy manager, responsible for corporate governance and responsible investment policy.

Louise Haigh was selected to stand for the Labour Party in Sheffield Heeley in May 2014.

Louise Haigh was first elected to Parliament at the May 2015 general election and re-elected in June 2017 and December 2019.

Louise Haigh was declared the "most hard-working" new MP in February 2016 after a study of the activity of MPs elected in 2015.

Louise Haigh was instrumental in revealing that hundreds of women had their tax credits stopped in error by US company Concentrix.

In November 2016 Louise Haigh introduced a private member's bill calling for statutory leave from work for living organ donors, after a constituent complained of being given three days' unpaid holiday after donating bone marrow.

Louise Haigh is a member of a number of all-party parliamentary groups, including the APPGs on corporate governance, refugees, colombia and looked-after children.

In September 2015, Louise Haigh was appointed Shadow Minister for Civil Service and Digital Reform.

Louise Haigh opposed the closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office in Sheffield city centre, saying the decision demonstrated "contempt" for the city.

Louise Haigh served in this role during the passage of the Digital Economy Act and introduced a number of amendments, including an obligation for television broadcasters to include subtitles and closed captioning in on-demand content online which was adopted by a subsequent Government amendment.

Louise Haigh 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.

Louise Haigh has called for greater protection for police officers involved in vehicle pursuits, saying the current rules are "hampering the ability of the police to apprehend very serious offenders".

Louise Haigh has called for a "public health approach" to reducing violent crime and blamed the rise in crime on government spending cuts to both police and other public services.

On 6 April 2020, Louise Haigh replaced Tony Lloyd as the interim Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, following Lloyd's hospitalisation as a result of the COVID-19 virus.

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

Louise Haigh is the second woman after Mo Mowlam to serve as the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Louise Haigh made her first visit to Northern Ireland as Shadow Secretary of State in August 2020.

On 29 November 2021, during the shadow cabinet reshuffle, Louise Haigh was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.

Louise Haigh was replaced as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary by Peter Kyle.

Louise Haigh is concerned that forcing police to find more to pay for police pensions out of their general budget leaves less money for the police to protect the public.

Louise Haigh feels it is wrong that the police are forced to deal with mental health crises that has been caused by underfunding of the NHS.

Louise Haigh has spoken out about the crisis within the special education needs system.

Louise Haigh campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain a member of the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

Louise Haigh was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015, although she later said she regrets this decision.