An economist who boasted of the “good ways to be anti-capitalist” and has backed a call to release Jeremy Corbyn's "democratic life-force” is working as an adviser to a senior Cabinet minister in his private office in Whitehall, The Telegraph can disclose.

Tony Curzon-Price backed a new tax on homeowners who have benefitted from high prices near good schools and supported a petition for more support for refugee migrants in a series of social media posts.

Mr Curzon-Price was hired by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department last January, and, according to his entry on the LinkedIn website, works as an "economic adviser in the private office" of Greg Clark, the Business Secretary.

Tory MPs are now expressing alarm that Mr Clark is being advised by someone who has expressed radical leftwing views as recently as two years ago. One said: “The question will be ‘why is the Business Secretary employing someone who seeks to undermine the capitalist system which provides all the funding that the public services require.

“The Business secretary is a crucial job especially as we exploit the opportunities as we leave the European Union. If I were Greg Clark I would not have a man like that in my office let alone on the payroll.”