Former MP Twigg fined after being found drunk

The former government minister Stephen Twigg, remembered for his victory over Michael Portillo in the 1997 election, has been given a £50 fixed penalty notice after being arrested for being drunk in public.

Mr Twigg, who became a minister of state for education before he lost his seat to the Tories this year, was arrested early on Monday night in Orchard Street, central London, near Selfridges department store. He was arrested for being drunk and incapable in a public place and taken to Marylebone police station.

The former MP was given a fixed penalty notice for being drunk in a public place and left the police station before midnight.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: "At 7.19pm a 38-year-old was arrested in Orchard Street, W1, for being drunk and incapable in a public place. He was taken to Marylebone police station. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice."

His win over the former Tory defence secretary in Enfield Southgate in 1997 was the defining moment of that election. It spawned a book - Were You Up For Portillo? - and the beaming face of Mr Twigg became synonymous with Labour's win. But earlier this year, he narrowly lost his seat to the Tory David Burrowes. Mr Twigg is a director of a Westminster think-tank, the Foreign Policy Centre.