Emily Thornberry has resigned from Labour's front bench after sending a tweet during the Rochester and Strood by-election which was branded "snobby".
The shadow attorney general apologised for the message, which showed a terraced house with three England flags, and a white van parked outside.
Alongside the picture, she wrote: "Image from Rochester."
The resident of the house said she was a "snob", while Labour backbencher John Mann said she was "out of touch".
Dan Ware, who lives in the property, told the Sun: "I've not got a clue who she is - but she's a snob.
"We put the flags up for the World Cup and will continue to fly them."
He added: "I can't even remember when I last voted."
The by-election was triggered when Conservative MP Mark Reckless defected to UKIP and resigned his seat to seek re-election.
Mr Reckless won the by-election with 16,867 votes. Conservative candidate Kelly Tolhurst came second with 13,947.
Labour's Naushabah Khan was third on 6,713, with the Green's Clive Gregory next with 1,692 votes and the Liberal Democrats with 349.
Before the result was announced, BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the tweet had "given the Tory press an alternative narrative".
He said: "It is the most extraordinary self-inflicted wound I have seen an opposition party inflict on themselves in many, many years."
And the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said on Friday that the tweet "plays to a very, very dangerous theme" for Labour, namely the concern "that they are somehow dismissive, patronising, contemptuous of their own core voters".
The 54-year-old entered Parliament as MP for Islington South and Finsbury in 2005 and served as shadow energy and health spokeswoman before taking the role of shadow attorney general in 2011.
The daughter of a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations, she was born in Surrey and was called to the bar in 1983, specialising in criminal law.
She had a majority of 3,569 over the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 general election.
Ms Thornberry is believed to have had two conversations with Labour leader Ed Miliband since posting the tweet.
A Labour source said it was during the second conversation she said she thought the right thing to do was resign. Mr Miliband agreed.
In a statement released by the Labour Party, Ms Thornberry said: "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."
Labour's Chris Bryant told the BBC: "The first rule of politics is surely that you respect the voters.
"She was absolutely wrong to tweet what she did, and absolutely right to have resigned."
He added: "All I can say is, if somebody came into my constituency and did that, I would be furious."
Earlier, UKIP leader Nigel Farage tweeted: "What is Labour's Emily Thornberry trying to imply about Rochester and Strood? I suspect she's let Miliband's mask slip."
Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith accused Ms Thornberry of "sneering at the electorate of Rochester".
BBC News
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