West London MP Seema Malhotra became the eighth shadow cabinet minister to resign in yet another blow to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, facing a full blown crisis within the party.
The Feltham MP, who was also shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, handed in her resignation on Sunday (June 26) after nine months in the role.
In a resignation letter to Mr Corbyn, she wrote it was "with great sadness" she took the decision.
She wrote: "The Labour party is bigger than any of us individually, it is now also hugely divided and those divisions are growing.
"I have come to the view that under your leadership we will not be able to build bridges across the party, be the strong official opposition that the country needs."
She continued: "The decision is about the future of the party and how we best focus on achieving our purpose.
"That is why with great sadness, I believe we need a new leader to help begin this process of change."
She told getwestlondon: "This week Jeremy faces a vote of no confidence in his leadership. It has become clear that this is a vote he will lose.
"I do not believe that this is something that he or the Party should go through.
"I believe that difficult though it is, he should now step aside and help the Party through this difficult time.
"He can do so and still play a big role in the Party.
"Leadership comes in many different forms Local party supporters and others across the country have contacted me to say they believe Jeremy has taken us as far as he can, and that we need a fresh start."
She added: "Jeremy is a good man. Someone I worked with previously on the Justice Select Committee.
"In the leadership elections he showed that the Party had to change for us to connect more with voters and with the country.
"Implementing change can be a harder task and requires a different type of skill."
The MP of five years is one of a string of members who resigned following the sacking of Hilary Benn who was accused of being disloyal.
Benn, the former Shadow Foreign Secretary responded: "He [Corbyn] is a good man, but not a leader."
ITV News Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship said the resignation was "different" as she is closer to Mr Corbyn than her colleagues.
There have been several reports of an organised Labour coup pushing Mr Corbyn out of leadership amidst complains of his "weak" handling of the European Union referendum campaign which saw staunch Labour constituencies vote to leave the Union .
Although talks of who the next Labour leader could be have already began, including speculation of west London MP John McDonnell , Mr Cobyn retorted he would not let down those who voted him and resign.
