A Conservative MP has been issued with a £100 fine for dropping a cigarette outside an election count. Richard Holden, who represents North-West Durham, was hit with the charge outside the Louisa Centre in Stanley, County Durham on May 8. He had been there supporting Conservative Party candidates in the Durham County Council elections but had left the building to smoke a cigarette. It is understood he was spotted by a council warden dropping the butt onto the ground, bringing about a charge for the offence of littering. Mr Holden, who was elected in 2019, and has posted pictures of himself on social media doing litter picking in his constituency, was given ten days to pay before the charge increases to £150.