Yorkshire MP makes history with ministerial post

Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley has become the youngest and first female Sheffield MP to become a cabinet minister.

She was re-elected last Thursday night with a majority of more than 15,000 and will take up the role of Secretary of State for Transport in the newly formed Labour government. She is also the youngest ever serving female cabinet minister, at age 36.

Haigh has been MP for Sheffield Heeley for the last nine years.

As Secretary of State for Transport, she said she would be “relentlessly” focused on delivering a publicly owned, passenger centred railway and giving communities everywhere the power to take back control of buses.

She has spearheaded transport policy for Labour since 2021 when she was appointed Shadow Transport Secretary.

She is one of six Yorkshire MPs to be appointed to the cabinet.

Haigh said: “It is an incredible honour to continue to represent my home in Parliament and to finally get the opportunity to deliver for Sheffield in a Labour Government.

“Transport is so important to the people of Sheffield, and I will put everything I have into putting the public back into our public transport system and delivering the connectivity we deserve.

“This will be the most public transport-committed government in Britain’s history. One of my first jobs will be to sort out the rail and bus networks across the country.

“Labour will bring rail franchises into public ownership as contracts expire and create publicly-owned Great British Railways – delivering the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.

“And we will massively expand franchising powers, giving every community the power to take back control of our buses.”

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