Both Conservative and Labour politicians have reacted angrily in the wake of shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s description of wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill as a “villain”.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson demanded he withdraw the comment, while the grandson of the ex-PM Sir Nicholas Soames branded the attack “foolish and stupid”.

Some Labour MPs also distanced themselves from the comment, in response to a sequence of quick-fire questions in an interview with Politico that was streamed live on the internet.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Johnson – author of a book on the wartime leader – said: “Winston Churchill saved this country and the whole of Europe from a barbaric fascist and racist tyranny and our debt to him is incalculable.

“If John McDonnell had the slightest knowledge of history he would be aware that Churchill also had an extraordinary record as a social reformer who cared deeply for working people and their lives. JM should be utterly ashamed of his remarks and withdraw them forthwith.”

Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill leaving London for his country home, Chartwell in Kent in 1964 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Sir Winston Churchill with his daughter Mary and son-in-law Christopher Soames (right) in 1964 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill (Seated left to right) Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal; Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Winston Churchill; Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, (standing left to right) the Secretary to the Chiefs of Staffs Committee, Major General L C Hollis; and the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence, General Sir Hastings Ismay at an unknown location Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill flashes the V-sign on 19 June 1963 AFP PHOTO Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill feeds the deer in Richmond Park, accompanied by his private secretary Anthony Montague Brown and personal detective Edmund Murray on 25 March 1963 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston and Lady Churchill leaving their Hyde Park Gate home for an Ascot race meeting on 16 June 1961 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Jacob Epstein with Winston Churchill in 1958. The pair lived on the same London street Evening Standard/Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Prime Minister Winston Churchill kisses Queen Elizabeth II's hand as she leaves 10 Downing Street in London, after a dinner on 4 April 1955 Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill at the christening of his granddaughter, Charlotte Soames at Westerham Parish Church, Kent on 6 November 1954. Left to right: godparents Fitzroy MacLean and Diana Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill, Lady Clementine Churchill, Christopher Soames and his wife Mary Churchill. The children are Nicholas, Jeremy and Emma Soames with his grandson Nicholas Soames Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill French President Paul Ramadier awards the medaille Militaire to former British prime minister Winston Churchill on 12 May 1947 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill outside the German Reichstag during a tour of the ruined city of Berlin on 16 July 1945 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The prime minister of the wartime Coalition government Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill during a speech 0n 2 July 1945. The July 1945 general election resulted in a resounding victory for the Labour Party Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (L) walking with General Bernard Law Montgomery near the Rhine river in Germany during an advance by Allied troops on 23 March 1945 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Marshal Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill together at the Livedia Palace in Yalta, where they were both present for the conference on 7 February 1945 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill with his daughter Mary and General Sir Frederick Pile (GOC Anti-Aircraft Command) watch anti-aircraft guns in action against V1 flying bombs on 30 June 1944 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill and General Sir Bernard Montgomery with his dog in 1944 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Prime Minister Winston Churchill Prime US President Franklin D. Roosevelt seated in the garden of the villa in Morocco where they met for a war conference surrounded by British and American war correspondants, on 23 January 1943 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, on board a naval auxiliary patrol vessel during a visit to the London docks on 25 September 1940 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill strolls in the grounds of his country home, Chartwell Manor on 31 October 1939 Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill, recently appointed Hon Air Commodore to 615 Auxiliary Air Force Squadron, climbing out of a Gloster Gauntlet II aircraft during a visit to the Squadron at Kenley, Surrey on 16 April 1939 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill balancing a top hat on his walking stick watched by his daughter Mary, outside the Mansion House in London Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill British statesman Winston Churchill attends the Anglo-Irish Conference in Downing Street on 11 October 1921 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The platform party is attentive to Winston Churchill as he delivers his address opening a new YMCA hostel for munitions workers at Enfield, Middlesex, on 20 September, 1915 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill won his first parliamentary seat in 1899 Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill 2nd Lieutenant Winston Churchill of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars in 1895 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill dressed in the uniform of Harrow School Rifle Corps Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time he attended the Harrow School Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill in his school years Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The former Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, born in New York, with her sons John (left) and Winston, in 1885 Time Life/Getty Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill as a young boy, aged 7, in Dublin, Ireland

Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames, grandson of the former Conservative prime minister, told the Daily Telegraph: “Frankly, it’s a very foolish and stupid thing to say, surely said to gain publicity.

“I think my grandfather’s reputation can withstand a publicity-seeking assault from a third-rate, Poundland Lenin. I don’t think it will shake the world.”

Labour MP Ian Austin voiced his disagreement by posting a picture on social media of a figurine of the wartime leader he keeps at home.

Mr Austin said: “Look who takes pride of place on my mantelpiece in Dudley: A real British hero, the greatest ever Briton, the man who motivated Britain to defeat the Nazis and fight not just for our liberty but the world’s freedom too.”

When asked in the interview whether he thinks of Sir Winston as a hero or villain, Mr McDonnell answered with two words: “Tonypandy, villain”.

His response made clear that he held the former PM to blame for sending in troops to deal with striking miners in the South Wales town of Tonypandy when home secretary in 1910.