Louise Haigh

Haigh was appointed as interim Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland within Labour's Shadow Cabinet in April 2020.

On 6 April 2020, 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 Haigh replaced him permanently.

In April 2019 Haigh introduced a Private Members’ Bill that would remove the automatic parental rights of fathers of children conceived through rape. The Bill would also establish an inquiry into the family court's handling of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls. This Bill was borne out of Haigh's work with Sammy Woodhouse, a survivor of child sexual exploitation, to increase protections for victims of abuse.

Haigh also feels it is wrong that the police are forced to deal with mental health crises that has been caused by underfunding of the NHS. Haigh said, “The government’s underfunding of mental health services is a national scandal and passing the buck to our overstretched police officers is exacerbating the crisis in policing. It is frankly shocking that the police are often the only people who someone experiencing a mental health crisis can turn to. Nearly a decade of brutal austerity has torn at the fabric of our society and the most vulnerable are being failed.”

On 3 July 2017, she was made Shadow Policing Minister. 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". In this role she has raised the issue of stress and mental health of officers, citing a 77% rise in officer leave due to mental health between 2014 and 2018. She 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.

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 July 2017 she was elected Vice Chair of the APPG on State Pension Inequality and in February 2019 became a Joint Chair of the APPG on Social Care.

On 10 October 2016, she was made Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy. Haigh served in this role during the passage of the Digital Economy Act (2017) 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. She 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.

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

Haigh campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain a member of the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. In the 2016 Labour leadership election, Haigh supported Owen Smith.

In November 2016 Haigh introduced a Private Members’ 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.

Haigh was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.

In September 2015, Haigh was appointed Shadow Minister for Civil Service and Digital Reform. The role, newly expanded under Jeremy Corbyn, covers the Government's digital strategy, the Freedom of Information Act, data security and privacy. In this role, Haigh was critical of a 2016 reshuffle of Permanent Secretaries which saw two fewer women as departmental heads. She opposed the closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office in Sheffield city centre, saying the decision demonstrated "contempt" for the city.

Haigh was selected to stand for the Labour Party in Sheffield Heeley in May 2014, and was elected to Parliament at the May 2015 general election.

From 2012, Haigh worked for Aviva as Public Policy Manager, responsible for corporate governance and responsible investment policy.

After graduating, Haigh worked for the local council youth service between 2006 and 2008. She then began working in Parliament, where she was the co-ordinator of the All Party Parliamentary Group on International Corporate Responsibility. During this time, she was also a Unite shop steward and volunteered as a Special Constable in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary between 2009 and 2011.

Louise Margaret Haigh (born 22 July 1987) is a British Labour politician currently serving as the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Heeley at the 2015 general election, as the youngest Labour member of that parliament.