Craig Whittaker has been heavily criticised over a joke suggesting Labour are as trustworthy to govern as Jimmy Savile would be to babysit.

The MP's tweet prompted an outpouring of fury on social media with people branding it 'crass' and 'incredibly ill-judged'.

The backlash came after the Tory MP's official Twitter account shared a Daily Mail newspaper column criticising Ed Miliband's promises on the economy with the headline: "Trust Labour? I'd rather trust Jimmy Savile to babysit".

Twitter users pointed out the sensitive position he held until Parliament was dissolved a few weeks ago.

Mr Whittaker who is defending a 6,000-vote majority in Calder Valley at the polls this week - was the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers from 2012 until last month.

He was also Calderdale Council's cabinet member for children and young people from 2007 to 2010, and spent five years on the Commons Education Committee.

Many of Jimmy Savile's hundreds of young victims were in council care and the disgraced entertainer deliberately targeted children's homes and hospitals .

Twitter user Jim Robbins wrote of Mr Whittaker: "It shows a total lack of judgement and empathy for the children he is meant to represent."

Ruth Kennedy told him: "Really quite confused at how chair of APPG for looked after children could endorse that."

Steve Crabtree said it was "poor judgement and quite daft" while Chris Nickson said it was "utterly, utterly vile".

Chris John Ball added: "You are a bloody disgrace and not a fit and proper person to hold the office of MP - shame on you sir."

Sean Bamforth wrote: "Not cool. I know it was a quote, but this was insensitive and awful and you need to apologise for it as soon as."

And Ciaran Downey told the ex-MP: "Electioneering or not, this is beyond crass, disgusting and incredibly ill-judged given your history. Shame on you."

The column that featured the headline was written for the Daily Mail by well-known columnist Richard Littlejohn. A spokesman for the Mail was not immediately available to comment.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Whittaker's account - which is verified with Twitter's 'blue tick' - was being run by himself or one of his campaign staff.