A Kent MP with his sights set on Number 10 has been branded "extremely stupid" and unfit for the top job by Boris Johnson's former chief aide.

Dominic Cummings took aim at Tonbridge and Malling's Tom Tugendhat today over his previous comments calling for "all Russian citizens" to be expelled from the UK in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking in Parliament in February, Mr Tugendhat - who launched a leadership bid this week - said: “Given that a hostile state has launched an act of war we can act now and freeze Russian assets, all of them.

“We can expel Russian citizens, all of them. We can make a choice to defend our interest, to defend the British people and to defend our international partners.

“Or we could do sadly what we’ve done too often in the past, watch until it’s too late and the British people must pay a much higher price.”

Mr Cummings, who has previously described Boris Johnson as “a shopping trolley smashing from one side of the aisle to the other”, responded to Mr Tugendhat's comments today.

“Tugendhat clearly disqualified from any serious job by calling for expelling ‘all Russian citizens’," he tweeted.

“Extremely stupid. Extremely immoral.

“Actually trolley-esque and we’ve had enough of this.”

Mr Tugendhat has told Yahoo News UK that he stands by his comments.

“My words were a warning of the risk of war with Russia,” he said.

"A warning of the consequences to people who were innocent. My own family was among many interned in WWII and I was warning of the dangers of war.

"I’m glad that we have avoided that risk by supporting Ukraine, which is exactly what I was calling for us to do in the months before the conflict in February.”

Mr Tugendhat launched his bid to be the next Prime Minister in the national press this week, saying: "This nation needs a clean start and a government that will make trust, service and an unrelenting focus on the cost of living crisis its guiding principles."

Meanwhile, he has shored up support from Tony Hudgell, a boy from Kings Hill, who had both legs amputated because of abuse by his birth parents.

Mr Tugendhat campaigned strongly for Tony’s Law, which increases the maximum sentence for child cruelty to life in prison, as an amendment to the Policing Bill.

The official Tony Hudgell BCyA BEAR account tweeted today: “For the last six years @TomTugendhat has been by Tony’s side, now it’s our turn to be by his.

“Your integrity and ability to build bridges, especially around the world, is exactly the fresh PM we need.”

In response, Mr Tugendhat said in a tweet: “This means everything to me.”

Mr Tugendhat has been contacted for comment about Mr Cummings' tweet.

He faces stiff competition to get the keys for Number 10, with a number of Tory big hitters expected to throw their hat in the ring.

Earlier today the defence secretary Ben Wallace said he would not be standing, while transport secretary Grant Shapps is the latest to have launched a leadership bid.