Jackie Weaver joins campaign to encourage more involvement with parish and town councils

Jackie Weaver, star of the infamous Handforth Parish Council meeting, has featured in a new video as part of a campaign by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) to get more people involved in their local parish and town councils.

The video, which sees Weaver driving a sports car through a rural setting, is part of NALC's Make a Change campaign which seeks to encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences to get involved with their local council.

Weaver said: "Our local councils exist and flourish thanks to the commitment of our 100,000-strong councillors upon whom we depend. You might call them the usual suspects. But, we have a problem. We have far too many vacant seats. We need to reach out to the unusual suspects."

Weaver became a household name in February 2021 after she muted multiple councillors during a Zoom meeting, despite their protestations that she did not have the authority to do so.

Last month, the findings of an independent investigation carried out by Cheshire East Council revealed that Weaver did not have the authority to remove the councillors from the meeting. She said her view at the time was that putting them in the waiting room was not the same as removing them from the meeting and then it was the remaining councillors that voted to remove them from the meeting.

The reports also revealed that three councillors had been found to have breached the Code of Conduct, although they have vowed to contest the findings.

Adam Carey