A rare survivor She made it through the Corbyn era, but her past derailed her

Louise Haigh was the youngest woman ever to be appointed to the cabinet when she was made transport secretary in July, but she was also a rare political survivor.

- Kiran Stacey

Having been elected in 2015, she was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership that year. She was rewarded for that decision with a frontbench role when he made her a shadow Cabinet Office minister aged just 28.

The MP for Sheffield Heeley rose through the junior ministerial ranks and was one of a handful of Corbyn's frontbench to be appointed to Keir Starmer's first cabinet when he took over. She became the shadow Northern Ireland secretary. Known for her vivid red hair and engaging communication style, she retained her frontbench role even as Starmer moved his party to the right, becoming a rare outspoken leftwinger within his top team.

Haigh won plaudits for the deft and dedicated way she handled the Northern Ireland brief, and was moved to transport in 2021, where she began work on Labour's plans to renationalise the railways.

The seeds of her downfall had already been sown however, seven years earlier when she worked in the private sector for the insurance company Aviva.

One night in 2013, Haigh was coming home from a night out in London when she was mugged. Friends say the attack was on the verge of becoming violent. In her resignation letter to Starmer yesterday morning she described the ordeal as "terrifying".

That night, friends say, Haigh got home and went through her bag to check what items had been taken, and discovered that her work phone was among them. She went to police to notify them and her employer duly gave her a new mobile.