A Scottish Labour shadow minister has quit and called for Jim Murphy to stand down as leader.

Alex Rowley, MSP for Cowdenbeath resigned as his party's local government spokesman and in a letter to fellow members said a "fundamental change in direction and strategy" was required and also attacked Mr Murphy's decision to allow his Chief of Staff John McTernan to remain in post.

It follows the resignation of Neil Findlay, who quit the Labour shadow cabinet at the weekend citing the party's "disaster" in the general election in Scotland and saying he wanted to play a full part in "rebuilding our party from the grassroots up."

Trade Unions Unite and Aslef have already called for Mr Murphy to quit, with a statement from Unison expected later today. It is expected that he will face a vote of no confidence at Labour's Scottish Executive at the weekend.

In a letter to Mr Murphy, distributed to Labour MSPs, Mr Rowley, an ally of Gordon Brown's, said: "I said yesterday at the meeting of Labour MSPs that I thought your speech on Friday stating that you would stay on and lead Labour into the 2016 election was a mistake, and that it would also be a mistake for the team you put in place, including your Chief of Staff, to remain in post.

"As you know, I praised the level of hard work and dedication that you brought to the campaign over the last six months and I absolutely agree that the challenges facing Labour in Scotland will not be fixed solely by a change of leadership. However, we have a leader in the Scottish Parliament and much of the focus of the next year will be on the Scottish Parliament and the performance of the SNP government over the last 8 years in Scotland. I sincerely hold the view that you continuing as leader whilst not in the Scottish Parliament, and not in an elected position holding a democratic mandate, means you will become an unhelpful distraction from the real issues that Scottish Labour must focus on.

"Over the coming weeks rank and file Labour Party members must have their say on the way forward for Labour in Scotland and I want to be part of that discussion.  It is clear from the discussion yesterday that dissent in public from the leadership view is perceived as disloyalty, but I am convinced we need a fundamental change in direction and strategy and therefore cannot sign up to your leadership as one of your shadow team.

"From an early age my memories are of my parents talking about politics and the need for working people to organise and fight for a better and fairer society and that is why I joined the Labour Party.  It was suggested to me at the weekend that it would be disloyal to the Labour Party if I were to speak publicly on these issues.  I have given that a lot of thought and consideration and I concluded that it would be disloyal and damaging to Labour were I not to speak out.  I believe now, more than ever, that we in Scotland need a strong relevant Labour Party and we will not achieve this under your leadership therefore I have no choice but to speak out."

A Scottish Labour spokesman said:"It's disappointing that Alex chose to resign. The task for the Scottish Labour Party going forward is to work together to rebuild our movement and regain the trust of the people of Scotland."??