Teresa Pearce will step down as Labour’s shadow communities secretary after the May local elections following just over seven months in the role, the Guardian understands.



Figures within the party have suggested she will be replaced by Roberta Blackman Woods, MP for the City of Durham, who has a more junior role within the same team.

The move could be seen as a blow for Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader, who has at times struggled at times to fill frontbench positions since a second resounding leadership victory.

However, a Labour source claimed Pearce had only been appointed temporarily after a colleague was required to take a step back, saying: “Teresa Pearce was always acting in the role as cover for Grahame Morris and it was always on a temporary basis.” However, they would not say who the replacement would be.

Pearce, who was herself promoted from a junior shadow minister in the same department, led Labour’s response to the Louise Casey inquiry into integration.