Is this the best parish council meeting in the world? EVER?
NO1 FOR CIVIL LOCAL AUTHORITY DISPUTES (AND TURNS OUT JACKIE WEAVER DIDN’T HAVE THE AUTHORITY!)
AS parish council meetings go this one was a bombshell. And for once they DIDN’T talk about potholes, pavements & dog poo.
STARS of the world’s most calamitous council Zoom call were last night being tipped to appear on Loose Women and money-spinning reality TV spots.
Social media yesterday exploded with predictions warring Handforth Parish Council meeting members Jackie Weaver and Brian Tolver will also be offered contracts for I’m A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing. Chaos erupted when council chairman Brian told clerk Jackie she had “no authority” to take control of the meeting. She kicked him off the call, which then descended into screaming, insults and swearing.
The clip has been viewed by two million people and counting since it was put online. Memes have flooded the web comparing it to The
League Of Gentlemen, The Thick Of It, football matches and battle flicks Conan The Barbarian and 300.
And a tweet coming from an account called Thejackieweaver said the stars of the call should be the new presenters of Loose Women.
Mr Tolver kicked off the row by declaring the meeting organised by two other councillors had “not been called according to the law”.
He seethed: “It’s only the chairman who can remove people from the meeting. You have no authority here Jackie Weaver, no authority at all.” Councillor Aled Brewerton said she was taking an “illegal” action by removing the leader and shouted at Jackie: “Read the standing orders – read them and understand them!”
Seconds later, she booted him from the meeting, fuming “appalling behaviour” – then told those left to refer to her as diva Britney Spears.
The spat is believed to be the result of a conflict between two rival sets of councillors.
Jackie, of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, said she still doesn’t know who should have been in charge but would not be bullied.
She said of her new fame: “Most of the time I’m trying to encourage people to get involved in parish councils to raise their profiles. The plus side of this is that it’s certainly done that.”
Coral is offering odds of 6–1 that Jackie will be on this year’s I’m A Celeb and 10–1 she will make Strictly.
Paddy Power has the council landing a Netflix series at odds of 50–1, with Jackie 500–1 to be the next PM.
ANYONE who has attended a parish council meeting knows they are a labour of love.
The people there are usually a mixture of do-gooders and busy-bodies.
And the items on the agenda range from planning disputes, complaints about disruptive kids and issues about dog poo.
Hardly a riveting Friday night.
But Handforth has changed all that.
Because of the childish rows between two rival factions of councillors being captured on Zoom, this must be the most viewed parish council meeting of all time.
And it is comedy gold – from the over-the-top reactions to the obvious struggles with the video format.
They can probably expect a few more thousand people to tune in for next month’s meeting.
But it’s going to be a hard act to follow.