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Children's Secretary Ed Balls has been given a £60 fine for driving while using a mobile phone, it has emerged.Mr Balls, married to fellow minister Yvette Cooper, told the Daily Mirror the incident happened last Sunday as they drove from Yorkshire to London.
He took the phone off its hands-free cradle because he did not want to wake his children, he said - and was spotted by police "almost immediately".
He said he supported the law "100%" as it was protecting people's safety.
"Although our car has hands-free, I took my phone off the cradle because I did not want to wake the kids," he told the paper.
"We got waved down by a police car almost immediately and I accepted the fine and three points there and then.
"I 100% support the law on mobile phones - it's there to protect the safety of all drivers, passengers and pedestrians."
Mr Balls is contesting the new seat of Morley and Outwood for Labour. Other candidates are Chris Beverley, British National Party; Antony Calvert, Conservative; David Daniel, UKIP; James Monaghan, Liberal Democrat.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.