UK Labour's Emily Thornberry quits over Rochester tweet: Sky News

(Reuters) - Emily Thornberry, UK Labour party's spokeswoman on judicial affairs, has resigned from the shadow cabinet over a tweet she sent during a special election in the southeast English constituency of Rochester and Strood, according to Sky News. Emily Thornberry, who is the MP for Islington South and Finsbury in London, stirred up a controversy when she posted a picture on the social media website of a house draped with three England flags with a white van parked in the drive. The caption, "Image from Rochester," was seen by some as contemptuous of working-class voters. (http://bit.ly/1xHCs5F) In a statement released by the Labour party, Sky News quoted Thornberry saying "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," she added, the report said citing the statement. Thornberry's exit comes at a time when David Cameron's right-leaning Conservatives and the opposition left-wing Labour Party led by Ed Miliband are facing simultaneous challenges from the United Kingdom Independence Party and Scottish nationalists that could revolutionise a two-party system in place since 1945. Thornberry and a spokesperson for the Labour party of Islington were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting By Aurindom Mukherjee in Bangalore)