Lyn Brown will be standing in for Diane Abbott as shadow home secretary while she recovers from illness, Jeremy Corbyn has announced.

Ms Abbott pulled out of two major election events yesterday and her previous appearances have been heavily criticised by the Conservatives.

The Labour leader told BBC Breakfast this morning that she had not been well for a “couple of days” and was “taking a break from the campaign”.

He said: “Of course Diane is somebody that works extremely hard and represents her community very well and I have to say has received totally unfair levels of attack and abuse not just recently - over many years.”

Asked how long she would be taking a break, Mr Corbyn replied: “I’ll be talking to her later on today - she’s not well at the moment.”

It is not known how long Ms Brown, who has represented West Ham since 2005, will be in the position.

She was first appointed to Labour’s shadow home affairs team when Mr Corbyn named his first frontbench team in 2015, but was among a number of MPs who resigned the following year following a vote of no confidence in his leadership. She said then that Labour should seek a new leader “for the good of the party and the country”.

She rejoined the front bench three months later as minister for policing.

Ms Brown was a Labour whip under Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, before being appointed shadow minister for communities and local government in 2013 and then shadow home office minister two years later.