Louise Haigh will receive thousands of pounds in severance pay after her resignation as transport secretary, No 10 has confirmed.
Ms Haigh quit Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet last Thursday after she admitted pleading guilty to misleading the police a decade ago.
All departing ministers aged 65 or under are entitled to a quarter of their annual salary, no matter how long they are in their post or the circumstances in which they leave.
The only requirement to give back severance pay is if they are appointed to another ministerial role within three weeks.
A research briefing by the House of Commons Library states that a Cabinet minister whose ministerial salary is £67,505 would be entitled to severance pay of £16,876.
Michelle Donelan, the former Tory education secretary, was in line for a payment of the same size in 2022 despite resigning after only one full day in the role. She asked not to receive the cash and promised to give the entire amount to charity if she did.
Asked whether Ms Haigh would receive severance pay in the usual way, Sir Keir’s official spokesman said: “There are rules set out in legislation on severance pay, so I would just refer you to that rather than commenting on specific individuals. Severance pay rules are set out online, and that remains the case.”
Before the general election, Labour promised to reduce severance pay to a quarter of ministers’ actual earnings during their previous year as a minister.
Any minister who left their job while under investigation for misconduct allegations would also have had their severance pay suspended under the proposed reforms.
Asked whether Labour still planned to reform the severance pay system, the spokesman said: “I’d have to take that away. I can’t recall the specific pledge you’re referring to.”
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