Labour's new shadow home secretary called for Jeremy Corbyn to step down

Lyn Brown said things had become 'untenable'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Getty)

Labour’s acting shadow home secretary called for Jeremy Corbyn to step down as leader last year, it has emerged.

Lyn Brown is replacing Diane Abbott in the post while the Hackney MP takes time off due to illness.

Ms Brown quit the front bench after the EU referendum and Labour MPs’ vote of no confidence in Mr Corbyn, branding the situation “untenable”.

“Following the overwhelming vote of the parliamentary Labour party, it was with a heavy heart that I concluded that we had reached a tipping point and, for the good of the party and the country, I believe that we should seek a new leader,” she said at the time.

Following the Labour leadership contest she rejoined the front bench as shadow policing minister.

Ms Abbott was today replaced as Labour's shadow home secretary during a "period of her ill health", the party announced today.

She said she was “touched by all messages of support”, was “still standing” and would “rejoin the fray soon”.

Ms Abbott has suffered from a series of gaffes and difficult interviews in recent weeks, with the Conservatives increasingly focusing their political fire on her performance.

Speaking to reporters on the Labour battle bus on Tuesday he noted that she had faced "an awful lot of very unfair criticism and abuse in the past".

On Monday Ms Abbott struggled to recall the contents of a report on counter-terror policing during an appearance on Sky News.

Earlier in the campaign she had failed to recall the cost of Labour's policy to hire more police officers during an awkward interview with LBC radio.

A statement issued by the party said: "Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, has asked Lyn Brown to stand in for Diane Abbott as Shadow Home Secretary for the period of her ill health.