Calder Valley Conservative candidate Craig Whittaker Savile tweet causes row
- Published
Craig Whittaker posted the tweet following an article in the Daily Mail
A prospective parliamentary candidate has come under fire for sharing a joke about Jimmy Savile on Twitter.
Conservative Craig Whittaker's tweet linked to an article by Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn entitled "Trust Labour? I'd rather trust Jimmy Savile to babysit".
Mr Whittaker, who is standing in Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, is currently chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Children in Care.
He declined to comment when approached.
Mr Whittaker, who also served as Calderdale Council's cabinet member for children and young people from 2007 to 2010, sparked an angry response to the tweet.
One, @SteveM70, tweeted, external: "Given your previous responsibilities at calderdale and commons interests that is utterly despicable. You should apologise"
Another, @seanbamforth, tweeted, external: "Not cool. I know it was a quote, but this was insensitive and awful and you need to apologise for it as soon as."