Former transport minister George Freeman has said he “deeply regrets” using his mobile phone while driving after being fined and receiving six penalty points on his licence.
The Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk pleaded guilty at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in London on 1 September. He was fined £430 and ordered to pay a £172 surcharge to support justice services, along with £130 in costs to the Metropolitan Police.
Freeman said he had been checking the Waze navigation app while stuck in gridlocked traffic. A cyclist saw him using the phone behind the wheel and reported the incident to police, the court heard.
“I took full responsibility and deeply regret my actions,” Freeman said.
Freeman served as transport minister under Boris Johnson from July 2019 to February 2020. He has represented Mid Norfolk in Parliament since being elected in 2010 and has held several ministerial roles.
The 59-year-old previously said he left his position as science minister in 2023 because he could not afford rising mortgage repayments on a ministerial salary of almost £120,000. He subsequently took on paid work outside government in addition to his parliamentary salary.
Freeman became a paid adviser to greenhouse-gas monitoring service GHGSat in April 2024 and left the role in March 2025. The following year, he was suspended as a government trade envoy after referring himself to the parliamentary watchdog over claims that a GHGSat director had helped him draft questions to government departments. The watchdog said the allegations did not provide sufficient grounds for a formal investigation.
Sources: BBC News UK.