Lord Warner: Former Labour Health Minister resigns the party whip over 'loss of credibility'

Labour sources said the resignation was 'ego-driven'

Lord Warner served in Tony Blair's government and was made health minister in 2003, leaving government in 2007 (Rex)

Former Labour Health Minister Lord Warner resigned the party whip on Monday night in a move believed to be a sign of protest against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

The peer said Labour was “no longer a credible party of government-in-waiting” in his resignation letter to Mr Corbyn, according to the Guardian.

Lord Warner said he would sit as a cross bencher in future, adding: “Labour will only win another election with a policy approach that wins back people who have moved to voting Conservative and Ukip, as well as to Greens and SNP. Your approach is unlikely to achieve this shift.”

He said he would continue to argue for progressive causes on the Lords benches, but he does not believe “those are likely to be those you or your kindred spirits espouse”.

In his letter to Mr Corbyn he wrote: “I have watched for some time the declining quality of the Labour party’s leadership, but had not expected the calamitous decline achieved in 2015. The Labour party is no longer a credible party of government-in-waiting. The approach of those around you and your own approach and policies is highly likely to worsen the decline and in the Labour party’s credibility.

“I fear for the future of the Labour party if your supporting activists secure ever control of the party’s apparatus and process, and the role of the parliamentary Labour party diminishes further in the selection of a leader and the formulation of policies likely to win an election.”

Labour sources told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg the resignation was "ego-driven" and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said Lord Warner was "no great loss".

Lord Warner served in Tony Blair's government and was made health minister in 2003, leaving government in 2007. He previously called for radical reform to the NHS.