THE Tory parliamentary candidate for Warrington North has come under fire for living outside the town.

Wendy Maisey was announced as the party’s candidate for the next general election after being picked by members of Warrington Conservative Association.

She stated she has lived in the ‘Warrington area’ for more than 30 years but the party has confirmed she lives in Lowton.

Labour claims the Conservatives have hit ‘rock bottom’ by selecting Ms Maisey as the candidate for the constituency.

The party also says the Tories have ‘hammered’ Warrington North since 2010, while Labour has ‘stood by’ residents.

A spokesman said: “Her vague claim that she lives in the ‘Warrington area’ is a deliberate attempt to disguise the fact that she resides in Wigan and pays her council tax to Wigan Metropolitan Council. Her business interests are in Warrington South.

“And she is the ultimate ‘flip-flop’ candidate, who has proclaimed her candidature for three different public offices in less than six months.

“In May this year, she stood for election to the European Parliament, seeking support throughout the north west.

“Shortly after, she declared she was standing for Warrington council – but was so unfamiliar with the area, she misspelt the names of two of our villages! Now, she says she wants to go to Westminster. Exactly who does she want to represent?

“We’ll fight the next general election on our record. Only a vote for Labour will stop the Tory candidate from Wigan.”

But the Tories have defended the decision to select Ms Maisey as the candidate.

A spokesman insists she will be an ‘excellent’ MP who will work hard for constituents.

He added: “This smacks of desperation to score political points by Labour, who under Jeremy Corbyn can’t even make a decision on where their party stands on Brexit.

“If there’s one thing constituents in Warrington North feel let down by, it’s the failure of Helen Jones to respect the wishes of the majority of those who voted in the 2016 referendum.

“Labour seem to have forgotten that Helen Jones was a councillor in Chester before she was parachuted into Warrington North in 1997.

“And while we’re we looking back, it was Helen Jones who contested the Lancashire Central constituency at the 1984 European Parliament election, and North Shropshire and Ellesmere Port and Neston at the 1983 and 1987 general elections – she knows a lot about flip-flopping.”