A Labour frontbencher has warned traditional left-wing voters they will feel guilty if they vote Conservative at this year's General Election.

The Labour candidate for Newcastle upon Tyneside Central and shadow Defence Minister, Chi Onwurah, has pleaded with voters to remain faithful to her party, regardless of the fact 58% of people in the North-East of England voted for Brexit.

Her warning comes as opinion polls suggest huge swathes of die-hard Labour voters are planning to abandon their party as a result of Jeremy Corbyn.

'Brexit will cause significant damage to my constituency'

Yet Ms Onwurah is vehemently anti-Brexit, having argued in the past that Brexit will cause significant damage to her constituency.

The shadow Defence Minister also voted against triggering Article 50, the mechanism under the 2007 Lisbon Treaty a head of state must issue before leaving the European Union.

She did this despite Mr. Corbyn enforcing a three-line whip on Labour MPs to support the Government in initiating Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

She claims leaving the EU will be influenced by the Conservative Party, calling it a Tory Brexit.

Ms Onwurah spoke exclusively to BBC's Newsnight, and said people should remind themselves of what a Conservative government will do from day one.

'Labour voters will be the ones who will feel guilty'

She said Labour voters will lie awake in bed in two years' time, feeling guilty of enabling the Tories to decimate the NHS, schools and the economy, before saying people will be responsible for that.

But a Conservative candidate, James Wharton, said Labour voters were being let down by MPs who fail to share the same values as them.

He added that Brexit has demonstrated how polarised MPs are from their own electors.

Ms Onwurah's 12,673 majority in Newcastle Tyneside is under threat due to electors in the North-East preparing to abandon Labour in favour of the Conservatives due to the latter's strong policy on leaving the EU.

Experts say this trend could be repeated in many parts of the country that backed Brexit.

Her comments have provoked anger on Twitter.

Denis Murray tweeted: The deluded are at it again.

Jeff Nichols also said on Twitter: Had enough of these Remoaners. Why can't they understand Brexit means Brexit?

Neil Owens replied by tweeting: Our country cannot be controlled by this poisonous organisation anymore! Leave before more of Romania's so-called immigrants arrive!

However, this is not the first gaffe the Newcastle MP has found herself in recently. After the Duke of Edinburgh announced his retirement last week, she tweeted: 'Congratulations on Prince Philip on retiring in financial security at a time of his choosing from a job he enjoys #forthemanynotthefew #waspi.'

The Conservative candidate for Stratford, Nadhim Zahawi, urged her to apologise after dubbing her comment as shameful.

She then had to elaborate on her comments by saying she has huge respect for Prince Philip and that she is not a republican, but believes everyone in life deserves the same chances, regardless of their background.

This is also not the first time the shadow defence minister has had a public spat with the Leader of the Opposition.

She said she would have taken the Labour leader to a tribunal in any other job after Thangam Debbonaire was hired and fired from the frontbench without ever being informed.

The Newcastle Tyneside candidate accused Mr. Corbyn of racial discrimination at the time.

During the Labour leadership contest in 2015, Ms Onwurah was on the receiving end of online abuse after she backed Andy Burnham to become leader of the party.

At the time she thought the abuse on Facebook was odd because she signed the ballot alongside other Labour MPs to ensure Mr. Corbyn was made a contestant in the race.

Ms Onwurah was elected to Newcastle upon Tyneside Central in 2010 with a majority of 7,466, which she then went on to increase during the 2015 General Election.

She endorsed Ed Miliband during his leadership campaign in 2010. The former Labour leader went on to promote the Tyneside MP by providing her with the position of shadow minister for business.