AFP - Another member of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, said Wednesday she was resigning, making her the fourth to go in 24 hours.
  
Blears said she was stepping down so she could "return to the grassroots" and "help the Labour Party reconnect with the British people" in a statement.
  
"Today I have told the prime minister that I am resigning from the government," she said.
  
"I am returning to the grassroots, to political activism, to the cut and thrust of political debate.
  
"Most of all I want to help the Labour Party to reconnect with the British people, to remind them that our values are their values, that their hopes and dreams are ours too."
  
In response, Brown said he "respects and understands" Blears's decision, adding she had made "an outstanding contribution to public life".
  
The move comes the day before Thursday's elections for the European Parliament and 34 English local councils and amid a rumbling row over MPs' expenses which has badly hit Brown's popularity ratings.
  
It came after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's aides briefed reporters she would also step down. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson and children's minister Beverley Hughes are also reportedly stepping down.
  
Commentators and opinion polls have predicted that Brown's governing Labour Party could suffer its worst-ever results at Thursday's elections.
  
A reshuffle is expected to take place as early as Friday as he bids to relaunch his premiership and finance minister Alistair Darling and Foreign Secretary David Miliband are among those tipped to be moved.