A former cabinet minister has hit out at a pattern of “misogynistic” and “sexist” briefing from individuals in 10 Downing Street, directed at female cabinet ministers.
Louise Haigh, who resigned as transport secretary in November 2024, said she was “really fed up” of reading negative stories about her former colleagues in the media.
Haigh commented that she was “really angry” when, in reaction to the local elections last week, stories emerged that culture secretary Lisa Nandy and education secretary Bridget Phillipson could be demoted in a forthcoming reshuffle.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, the Labour MP said: “I’m just really fed up of opening the papers and reading briefing against my female former colleagues.
“And I was really angry at the weekend to see the response to the electoral defeat that we had suffered at the hands of Reform to be that we should sack two female, northern cabinet ministers and two of our best communicators with those voters that we need to communicate with most.
“I think that does reveal that there are people working in No 10 that are more interested in that kind of politics than they are about running the country.”
Haigh was asked about the case of Ed Miliband, who is routinely the subject of negative briefing about his work in the Energy Security and Net Zero Department.
She responded: “Ed does get briefing — that’s absolutely right. [But] I wouldn’t say that he gets it anywhere near as badly as my female colleagues do.”
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Asked if she would describe the pattern of briefing as “sexist” and “misogynistic”, Haigh replied: “All of the above”.
She said: “I think there is a real problem where there are people that are more interested in that kind of politics than they are in rolling their sleeves up and getting on with the job of running the country.
“That is not motivational to cabinet colleagues that are working really hard to try and deliver for the people of this country, and you know, the kind of briefing that undermines them on a daily basis is not supporting the prime minister [Keir Starmer] and it’s not supporting the Labour government.”
Haigh also revealed it is “unlikely” she will support the government’s welfare reforms, announced at the recent spring statement, which will shortly be put before parliament.
She told BBC Newsnight: “I’m worried about the proposals as they stand, not least the impact assessment that has shown that tens of thousands of children will be pushed into poverty.
“We don’t yet know exactly what is going to be in front of us, but unless the position changes, I think it’s unlikely that I’ll be supporting those.”
Haigh stepped down from cabinet after it emerged she had pleaded guilty to a fraud offence a decade ago, a conviction she reportedly told Starmer about in 2020, when he first appointed her to his shadow cabinet.
The former transport secretary was asked about the nature of her resignation and whether it was the right decision.
She said: “Well, look, I know politics was a real rough old business, and those deadlines were horrible — they were horrible for me, they were horrible for the government, and I didn’t want to stay on for the sake of my ego and put the government through that.
“I cared too much about it, and I cared too much about my colleagues who are trying to do a really good job at the moment, and I didn’t want to distract from that.”
Haigh refused to be drawn on whether it was “suggested” she should resign.
She commented: “I’m not going to sort of play out those internal conversations. I recognised it was the right thing to do, and I went in their circumstances.”
Haigh, who is often associated with the mainstream “soft left” of the Labour Party, is the most senior MP to break rank and criticise the government in the wake of the local elections.
Speaking to The Times over the weekend, she said Starmer had “failed to acknowledge any need to change course but simply committed itself to double down on the plan, whilst haemorrhaging votes to the parties of our left and right”.
Haigh called on the government to “rip up” the fiscal rules and its “self-imposed tax rules”.
She added: “Voters are desperate for change and they’ve sensed from us that we’re not capable or interested in delivering it.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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