The shadow cabinet member’s comments came after Mr Corbyn released an advertisement urging members to back him for the leadership which trumpeted the victories.
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Ms Champion said Mr Corbyn’s refusal to accept a motion of no confidence, backed by 172 of the party’s MPs, showed why his leadership could not continue.
At the time, she said: ‘I can only do what I feel is right, even though it’s breaking my heart’.
Ms Champion has returned to her post as a shadow home office minister, focusing on women, equality and domestic violence issues.
“But there are rumours at Westminster that Jeremy Corbyn is starting to reach out to some of those shadow ministers who may well have resigned”.
Although Mr Corbyn filled the gaps in the shadow cabinet by appointing replacements, several politicians have had to double up by taking on two portfolios while many middle-ranking and junior positions remain unfilled.
However, the councillors think the Labour leader has the strong backing of members and registered supporters within their ward, with 38% believing the majority of their local members will vote for Corbyn (compared to 28% voting for Smith) and 53% thinking the majority of their local registered supporters are likely to back Corbyn (10% Smith).
The survey, carried out between 21-25 July, found that 60 per cent of councillors are backing Mr Smith, with 28 per cent likely to vote for Mr Corbyn.
Labour also saw more than 183,000 people pay £25 to apply to join the party as registered supporters to vote in the upcoming leadership election.
Corbyn’s office confirmed Champion has returned, according to the BBC.
Champion initially quit as part of the wave of mass resignations from Corbyn’s frontbench last month.
And a spokesman for Mr Corbyn played down the incident and said claims of intimidation are “untrue”.
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The university’s Labour History Research Unit asked 350 councillors in the 125 seats most narrowly won and lost by Labour at the 2015 general election.
