Tom Watson's resignation marks the second time he has left a high-profile job in a blaze of publicity.

In his letter to Ed Miliband yesterday, he referenced the notorious occasion when he walked out of his post as a defence minister in Tony Blair's government in 2006, claiming that it was not in the "interest of either the party or the country" for the Prime Minister to stay on in office until 2007.

That move was widely seen as an orchestrated attempt by Gordon Brown's supporters to put their man in Downing Street early.

Soon after, he was forced to defend a visit he made to Mr Brown's Scotland home shortly before his resignation, saying he had merely been delivering a present for the then chancellor's baby.

Yesterday he said some within the party "have not forgiven me" for that act.

There was little surprise when he joined Mr Brown's government, in charge of digital policy at the Cabinet Office.

In the early years in opposition he was a dogged pursuer of the truth over phone hacking.

In the Commons Culture Committee he played a key role in grilling Rupert Murdoch and his son James when the hacking allegations proved correct.

He was invited by Ed Miliband to return to the front bench to co-ordinate election campaigning.

But there have been grumblings for months that he refused to accept the collective responsibility that came with the role. Instead he pursued a number of issues which he said yesterday he would continue to campaign on from the backbenchers, including on the use of drones.

The MP for West Bromwich East since 2001, he is known to have a vast array of cultural interests including music, film and video games. One piece of advice for Mr Miliband was to make sure he had a "real life" and to listen to the band Drenge.