The government has distanced itself from Dominic Cummings' call for job applications as he was accused of “subverting due process”.

On Thursday the Prime Minister's chief adviser posted a 3,000-word job advert on his blog, inviting “true wild cards" and “weirdos and misfits" to work for Downing Street and the civil service.

Last night senior cross-party MPs, trade unions and employment industry also bodies raised concerns about potential breaches of equality and data protection laws.

His blog post, which is not advertised on the official 10 Downing Street website, tells applicants to send their CVs and applications to a private email address.

Downing Street declined to comment when asked whether it had sanctioned the advert. It also declined to comment whether applications for government and civil servant jobs which are sent to the private email address given by Mr Cummings would be formally considered.

Jon Trickett, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "Mr Cummings may wish to cultivate the notion of eccentricity but this behaviour is unacceptable.

“Governing through Parliament with a majority is one thing but proposing to spend taxpayer money whilst subverting due process, using private email addresses, is entirely different. The PM needs to get a grip immediately."