Jackie Weaver Speaks Out About Viral Handforth Parish Council Meeting

Very rarely does a parish council meeting become national news, but in the case of Handforth, that is exactly what happened.

The argument centred on a disagreement between council Clerk Jackie Weaver and the council Chairman about who was in control of the meeting, causing several members to be booted out of the call for misbehaviour.

Discussing the video on Radio 4 this morning (5 February), Ms Weaver admitted that meetings are never as exciting as this one was.

If you’re one of the few people out there who doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about, let’s recap.

She said: “99.99 percent of council meetings are just not like that, they are often less exciting than we might hope they were.

“Although this has a positive spin for it – most of the time I’m trying to get people to get involved in parish councils. The plus side of this is it’s certainly done that.

“I have had nothing but really lovely positive support from people – who of course condemn the behaviour, no one could not condemn the behaviour.”

Jackie Weaver says she didn’t really know who was in charge of the meeting. Credit: Handforth Parish Council

When asked about her new cult status and being hailed as a hero by many of those who have watched it, Ms Weaver said she was just happy she kept her composure – and didn’t really know who was in charge.

She said: “I’m afraid that when you are being bullied, if you can see that the other person has lost it, there’s a sense of ‘I did okay there and held it together’.

“Who was in charge? Of that meeting, I’m not actually sure who was in charge.”

Adding: “‘We’re passionate about the fact that local government is the mechanism that people can really engage with their local communities.”

The footage shows a heated meeting between members of the Planning and Environment Committee, which took place on 10 December 2020.

According to LBC, the clip was originally posted on the local authority’s website, but went viral last night after it was shared on Twitter and YouTube.

Chairman Brian Tolver had apparently refused to recognise the legitimacy of the meeting, having labelled himself as ‘clerk’.

Ms Weaver, from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, then said: “The chairman simply declared himself ‘clerk’ and notified everybody of the case.

“There is no way of stopping him from calling himself clerk. Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on.”

Tolver hit back angrily: “You have no authority here Jackie Weaver!”

He was then removed from the meeting and placed in a virtual waiting room – the Zoom equivalent of the naughty step, surely.