Rudd dubbed a prima donna

Kevin Rudd has been dubbed a prima donna and a psychopath with a giant ego, by a retiring Labor backbencher. Member for Bendigo Steve Gibbons fired the shots at the former prime minister on Twitter.

Mr Gibbons is retiring at the next election.

"Only a psychopath with a giant ego would line up again after being comprehensively rejected by the overwhelming majority of colleagues," he tweeted on Sunday.

"Any political organisation is bigger than the individual and the Australian Labor Party is certainly bigger than Kevin Rudd," Mr Gibbons later added in a statement to the media.

He said Rudd had taken the party to a "magnificent victory in 2007 on a well-established policy platform after the caucus rejected Kim Beazley as leader".

"However, his chaotic and deeply offensive style of leadership since then gradually eroded the goodwill that caucus had awarded him."

Federal Labor cannot afford to adopt the strategies of the NSW branch of the party in regularly changing leaders just because the going gets a bit rough, Mr Gibbons said.

"Being in government especially under the current circumstance is extremely difficult and no place for prima donnas who have had their chance," he said.

Meanwhile Labor backbencher Darren Cheeseman, who holds the most marginal seat in Australia, Corangamite, has demanded Prime Minister Julia Gillard quit to save the party.

"There's no doubt about it, Julia Gillard can't take the party forward," Mr Cheeseman told News Limited.

"The community has made its mind up on her. Certainly it would be in the interest of (the) party for Julia to stand down and allow cabinet to select a strong candidate."

-AAP