Catherine McKinnell has become the first member of the shadow cabinet to resign from Jeremy Corbyn's frontbench.
Catherine McKinnell, the shadow attorney general, has resigned from Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet, saying that she fears that the party is going "down an increasingly negative path".
McKinnnell praises Corbyn as "someone who has stood by their principles over many years", but says that she believes that she will be more able to "channel my energy constructively" the backbenches.
The vacancy will be tricky to fill, as it can only be taken by a qualified lawyer. Corbyn may opt to reappoint Lord Bach, who became shadow attorney-general under Ed Miliband, or perhaps promote Andy Slaughter, a shadow justice minister, commonly identified with the soft left.