Former British cabinet minister Clare Short quit as a Labour Party MP today to campaign for a hung Parliament to replace Tony Blair's "arrogant, error-prone" government.
Ms Short resigned the party whip and announced she would sit as an independent in the Commons until she steps down altogether after the next general election.
In her resignation letter - seen by the media before party chiefs - she said she wanted to be free to air her concerns.
Her move comes shortly after she was reprimanded by Chief Whip Jacqui Smith for urging voters to abandon Labour to force change.
"Many people remember her contributions to the Labour Party and government, and it is a shame that, following my reprimand to her for advocating the defeat of her Labour colleagues at the next election and several recent warnings about her lack of attendance, she has decided to resign the Labour Whip," Ms Smith said.
"It is unfortunate she decided to announce this through a leak to the media rather than to her constituency Labour Party."
The chairman of Ms Short's constituency said he was "not altogether surprised" at the decision. But he pointed out that Ms Short had publicly supported "much of what the government is doing".
