The chancellor of the University of Essex will stand down from her role at the end of the academic year.

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti made the announcement today after being appointed shadow Attorney General in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party cabinet reshuffle yesterday.

In a statement, the University of Essex said: “We are delighted our first woman chancellor Shami Chakrabarti, who was awarded a life peerage in the summer, has been appointed as shadow Attorney General.

“The chancellor of the university plays an important role representing the university as a whole. It is our policy, therefore, not to appoint to the role active politicians who speak for a particular political party.

“As a result, following her confirmation as shadow Attorney General, Baroness Chakrabarti has offered to stand down. With sadness, the university has agreed her term of office should come to an end at the end of the current academic year in July 2017, enabling her to fulfil the calendar of commitments she has made to our students and providing sufficient time for the university to appoint its next chancellor.

“A passionate and fearless human rights and civil liberties champion, she has been a wonderful role model and inspiration to our students and staff, and will leave an important legacy in the scholarships funded through her Women of the Future Appeal, which is helping inspirational women from across the world determined to make positive change in their own communities.”

Baroness Chakrabarti had to apologise at the Labour conference after a poor taste joke about “Essex man”.