Gillard's woes grow as Evans quits posts Had enough ... Senator Chris Evans Photo: Alex Ellinghausen JULIA GILLARD'S extended election campaign has suffered another damaging blow with the shock resignation of the third most senior minister in her government, the Higher Education Minister, Chris Evans. Senator Evans, the government's Leader in the Senate and therefore the third in line to the prime ministership, will quit on Saturday morning, resigning from both his cabinet post and the leadership position immediately. He will stay in the Senate until the September 14 poll but will not contest that election. The West Australian's departure will force a reshuffle of ministers, which is also expected to be unveiled on Saturday. While Ms Gillard retains the power to choose her ministers, the leadership position in the Senate will require a ballot of the ALP caucus and is likely to be hotly contested. A government source told Fairfax Media that Senator Evans had wanted to leave politics and had decided now was the right time. "He'd just had enough," the senior source said. But for Ms Gillard, forced to deal with the renewed Craig Thomson issue just two days after her extended election campaign gamble, losing a senior minister in the same week she has announced the election campaign is troublesome. Possibilities for the leadership role are the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, from Senator Evans' Left faction, and the Right's Stephen Conroy.