A Conservative politician who ran to be the MP for Coventry South has sought to defend the reasoning behind her controversial post about Adolf Hitler in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Michelle Lowe, who lost to Labour in the recent election by a decisive margin, shared a photo of the Nazi leader smiling and hugging members of the public on Twitter on Monday evening. It included the caption: “Politicians should go out and show emotion”.

The senior councillor was immediately accused of comparing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Hitler, with people on Twitter branding the tweet “insensitive” and distasteful.

In the immediate wake of the deadly inferno which ravaged Grenfell Tower, Mr Corbyn was applauded for engaging with local residents and overtly displaying emotion after he was pictured hugging and comforting them. On the contrary, Theresa May was accused of lacking empathy and wholly misreading the public mood after she refused to meet any survivors of the disaster during a visit to the scene.

(Twitter (Twitter)

But Ms Lowe told The Independent the tweet had not been related to Mr Corbyn’s reaction to the west London blaze and insisted it was merely a response to the criticism levied at the Prime Minister for failing to display emotion after the disaster.

Seeking to defend her motivations behind the tweet, the Tory politician said the image “spoke to me at the time” and seemed like a good way to express her anger at the treatment of Ms May.

She said: “If people show emotions in public, it doesn’t mean they do care or they don’t care. Some people are reserved and some people are not and we shouldn’t judge people about how much they care by what they show in public.”

“My post intended to show this [Hitler] is a bad man that is able to show comfort to people but it doesn’t mean he cares about them. I was trying to find an example of someone who is clearly not a good person. He was a bad evil man but he was able to relate to people. He must’ve been able to do so to get into the position he was in.”

She said the tweet had been “taken out of context”, saying it was a “very simple thought process” which had been wholly misunderstood by critics.

Grenfell tower fire Show all 42 1 /42 Grenfell tower fire Grenfell tower fire Local residents watch as Grenfell Tower is engulfed by fire Getty Images Grenfell tower fire London Fire Brigade said there has been a number of fatalities from the blaze Rex Features Grenfell tower fire The fire was first reported in the early hours of Wednesday and continued into the morning Rex Features Grenfell tower fire A local resident sees the fire over the rooftops @Ebajgora Grenfell tower fire A firefighter reacts at the scene of the blaze Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Residents watch as the blaze continues Getty Images Grenfell tower fire More than 200 firefighters have been fighting the blaze PA Grenfell tower fire London Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared the fire a major incident Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Police and fire services attempted to evacuate the concrete block of flats Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A woman runs to assist paramedics working at the fire at the Grenfell Tower Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London in the early hours of Wednesday morning Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Fire fighters tackle the 24-storey building in West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Ambulances are stationed nearby Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Paramedics arrive with oxygen Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Emergency services believe it will take some time to establish the cause of the fire Grenfell tower fire Tens of people have been taken to five different hospitals across London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A man comforts a boy after the tower block was severely damaged Reuters Grenfell tower fire Firefighters stand amid debris in a childrens playground nearby Reuters Grenfell tower fire Firefighters are stationed at the building Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke engulfs Grenfell tower Rex Features Grenfell tower fire Lots of people donating water, food and clothing to St Clement's church for the residents of Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Samuel Osborne Grenfell tower fire A man speaks to a fire fighter after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB), 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are working to put out the blaze. Residents in the tower were evacuated and a number of people were treated for a range of injuries EPA Grenfell tower fire A resident of Grenfell Tower is trapped as smoke billows from the window after a fire engulfed the building Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Members of the emergency services work at the scene of a huge blaze which engulfed Grenfell Tower, a residential tower block in Latimer Road Getty Images Grenfell tower fire According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB), 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are working to put out the blaze EPA Grenfell tower fire Fire fighters tackle the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire The burnt facade of Grenfell Tower, the night after the fire in Latimer Road, West London REUTERS/Neil Hall Grenfell tower fire Local residents gather at a community centre near Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road REUTERS/Toby Melville Grenfell tower fire A resident in a nearby building watches smoke rise from Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London AP Grenfell tower fire Police and rescue services operate near the fire at Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey apartment block in Latimer Road EPA Grenfell tower fire A man stands amid debris on the A40 after a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London REUTERS/Toby Melville Grenfell tower fire A view of the empty A40 highway after it was closed in both directions, due to the proximity of the fire at Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road EPA Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Bodies are removed from the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Rick Findler/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire Bodies are removed from the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Rick Findler/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire Provisions on tables at the Westway Sports Centre close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Jack Hardy/PA Grenfell tower fire Beds are laid out in the Westway Sports Centre close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Jack Hardy/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire A pile of donated clothes, sleeping bags and water lie next to a police cordon near the burning the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Signs asking for donations are seen outside the Notting Hill methodist Chruch Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A man is rescued by fire fighters after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty

“But I’ve learnt not be so trigger happy with social media and think more deeply about how things are interpreted before I press enter.”

When pressed about what she would say to those who argued the post was offensive and it was rarely appropriate to bring Hitler into such matters, she continued: “At the time I was trying to make a simple point of an evil man compared with a Prime Minister who was accused of not showing emotion in public. Being reserved doesn’t make you a good or bad person.”

Ms Lowe has apologised to the BBC, saying she was “sorry for any upset that may have been caused”.

The failed MP was condemned for the tweet by Gary Ridley, the Tory leader in Coventry, who said he was “disturbed” by her statement and she did not represent the views of Coventry Conservatives.

He said: “I'm disturbed by any attempt to use Adolf Hitler to make a political point.”

“He brought pain and suffering to the world on an unimaginable scale and was responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people.

”To evoke his memory in this way is disrespectful to those who suffered at the hands of this monster and trivialises the crimes of the Nazi regime."

She has also sparked fury with members of the public, with critics dubbing the tweet "vile" and "insensitive".

Stuart Jennings said: “For someone in a representative position, this is an awful tweet to make.”

Ms Lowe’s tweet comes just after a Conservative politician was suspended after appearing to suggest there should have been a “hanging” during protests over the Grenfell Tower catastrophe which is thought to have claimed at least 79 lives.

Ken Hawkins, a cabinet member at Solihull Council, sent the offensive, inflammatory tweet after hundreds of protesters stormed Kensington Town Hall on Friday to voice their anger about the devastating inferno.