British minister resigns after failing to report finding missing phone 10 years ago

In the UK, Transport Minister Louise Hay has resigned after a story emerged that she was being tried for fraud. In 2014, she failed to tell her employer that she had found her missing phone — media outlets believe she may have lied so they could buy her a new one.

The Guardian reports.

The former official herself wrote a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer in which she announced her resignation, because «whatever the facts, this issue will inevitably distract attention from the work of the government».

She said that she worked for Aviva when she was about 27 years old — at that time she was robbed during an evening walk. She gave the police a list of items that had disappeared from her handbag, including her work phone, which she believed had been stolen.

She was then given a new phone, but she later found her old device and did not inform her employer. In the letter to Starmer, Hay said that it «was a mistake» — not to say that the phone was found immediately.

She then pleaded guilty to fraud by deception, but her conviction was expunged, so this information is no longer in the former official's file.

Sky News, quoted by the Guardian, wrote, citing two sources, that Hay reported that the phone was stolen in order to get a new model from her employer. A source close to her said on Thursday that this was «absolute nonsense».

Hay was the youngest official appointed to Starmer's cabinet. She also became the first government official to resign after 5 months in office. Hay thanked the Prime Minister for her support and said she was “very proud” of what Labour had achieved since the election.