It’s strange, you can go month after month without mentioning Warrington North MP Helen Jones then two mentions come along at once.

Last week she put her head above the parapet to have yet another pop at what appears to be her favourite target – LiveWire.

But this week it is Mrs Jones who is on the receiving end – from none other than Nick Bent.

READ > Nick Bent says Labour changes could ‘mean the end’ of MP Helen Jones

Do you remember Mr Bent? He’s the former Labour SPAD (special advisor to you and me but he’s happy to be called a SPAD on his Twitter profile).

His claim to fame is losing the Warrington South seat – previously held by Labour’s Helen Southworth – in the 2010 election and then seeing Tory David Mowat increase his majority in the 2015 election.

Citing work reasons, Mr Bent decided to rule himself out when the snap general election was called last year, paving the way for Faisal Rashid to reclaim the seat for Labour.

(How unfortunate – a Labour seat before Mr Bent and a Labour seat after Mr Bent but not a Labour seat with Mr Bent.) Anyway, Mr Bent is still involved in local politics as a parish councillor in Stockton Heath (not quite the Palace of Westminster but never mind, you make your political difference where you can).

And he has taken to Twitter saying new Labour Party deselection rules could mean the end of Helen Jones in Warrington North.

He adds some things I couldn’t and wouldn’t repeat because I can’t prove them to be true but goes on to say she is 'deeply unpopular with long-standing members as well as new ones'.

In another tweet he says Mrs Jones is 'rattled about deselection and again makes accusations I don’t feel it appropriate for me to repeat.

If you have the time and inclination, you can check out the tweets for yourself on Twitter at @NickBent But what’s behind this very public spat I wonder.

Maybe Mr Bent sees Mrs Jones as an anachronism from the Blair Babes, New Labour era (remember New Labour, that time when Labour actually won general elections).

According to Sky News Labour members have backed a move to make it easier to deselect sitting MPs.

Until now, MPs only faced an open re-selection contest if 50 per cent of a constituency's local branches and affiliated unions voted for it.

But delegates at the party's annual conference in Liverpool backed a proposal for that threshold to be reduced to 33 per cent.

Opponents say this is part of an effort to purge ‘Blairite’ and other critics of leader Jeremy Corbyn from the party, while supporters of the change say it will help a new generation of Labour MPs emerge.

It’s not for me to tell Labour how to conduct itself but this kind of unpleasant and very public attack doesn’t really endear me to them.

So much for solidarity, comrades.

n Driving through Warrington on Sunday I went through Stockton Heath and couldn’t help but notice the dilapidated and disgraceful condition of the swing bridge.

It is in dire need of a coat of paint and looks absolutely shocking. As an iconic gateway to the town deserves to be looked after better than it is.

According to a report in the Guardian of September last year, council leader Terry O'Neill proudly announced that Peel Ports had finally agreed to carry out the work following widespread public pressure.

Apparently, it will cost £1.5million to paint the town’s three swing bridges because of the difficulties of keeping both road traffic moving and still allowing the bridges to ‘swing’ to let water traffic through on the Manchester Ship Canal.

And when will this work take place? Summer 2018, according to the Guardian.

Hate to tell Cllr O'Neill and Peel Ports but summer has been and gone and the Stockton Heath bridge still looks a mess.