Emily Thornberry, the Labour party's shadow attorney general, has resigned from the shadow cabinet.
It appears she has quit over a controversy that began this afternoon, when she tweeted this picture of a suburban house in Strood.
Image from #Rochester
She came in for some severe criticism from social media users and some parts of the media, who claimed she was being a "snob".
@MrHarryCole @EmilyThornberry Don't be alarmed, that's just a working class person, they are actually often very nice.
@EmilyThornberry how out of touch are you? And you wonder why no one wants to vote for you and your vacuum packed lefty snobs
In an attempt to defend her stance, Thornberry told the Daily Mail: "'It was a house covered in British flags. I've never seen anything like it before.
It had three huge flags covering the whole house. I thought it was remarkable. I've never seen a house completely covered in flags."
The tweet was widely shared on Twitter and the news was made worse when it was reported that fellow Labour MPs said Thornberry was "out of touch".
Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale, said Thornberry's tweet was "derogatory". He told the Daily Mail: 'I think she was being derogatory and dismissive of the people. We all know what she was trying to imply."
The reaction apparently angered Ed Miliband, the party's leader.
Labour sources saying Ed Miliband "never been so angry" as when gave @EmilyThornberry dressing down over "that" tweet
MailOnline has obtained a statement from Thornberry:
Earlier today I sent a tweet which has caused offence to some people. That was never my intention and I have apologised. However I will not let anything distract from Labour's chance to win the coming general election. I have therefore tonight told Ed Miliband I will resign from the shadow cabinet.
Labour source: 'Ed and Emily had a second conversation. She thought the right thing to do was to resign. Ed agreed.'
Political commentators have expressed confusion at the decision.
Thornberry. That escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand.
Ironically, Thornberry had posted a picture of a similar house back in 2012, and praised it.
Wow great house in Lidney Rd #turnout marvin4bristol