local democracy Jackie Weaver talks about life after going viral. Kath Grant reports


She knows her celebrity status will not last and is taking the opportunity to raise awareness about local democracy while she can. Currently, she is campaigning for local councils to have the choice to meet remotely, something which happened during lockdown but ended last April. She and others are petitioning the


government for a permanent change in the law, saying that virtual council meetings increased public participation. “It seems plain daft to get rid of


Putting authority to good use


A


t the height of last year’s lockdown, fringe comedian Steven Morgan created a social media sensation when


he tweeted highlights of a Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting. The actual meeting had taken place


two months earlier and was posted on YouTube. It was only when Morgan found the recording and reduced it to a more watchable 20 minutes that it was retweeted six million times. As NUJ national executive committee member Chris Frost says, it was the moment Jackie Weaver “leapt into our lives”.


Handforth is in Manchester and


Salford branch’s area, and Weaver agreed to share her reflections about sudden fame, the importance of local democracy and her experience of national and local media at a webinar organised by them. She discussed the relationship


between journalists and local authorities with Chris Frost, who is also emeritus professor of journalism at Liverpool John Moores University, and Phil Morcom, former chair of the


08 | theJournalist


union’s public relations and communications council, who had worked as a communications officer for Leeds city council. Weaver’s rise to national renown


began when she was asked to cover the Handforth meeting in the place of its absent clerk. There had been difficulties at the council and, as chief officer of Cheshire Association of Local Councils, she and her small team provide advice, guidance, support and representation for councillors.


Her swift response to the council


chair who questioned her authority, and her dry comments throughout the meeting had journalists queueing up to interview her the day after Morgan’s tweet went viral. Since then, there has been a


whirlwind of media appearances. From opening the Brit Awards and taking part in TV comedy programmes to playing a guest role in The Archers, Weaver has spent the last 12 months using her fame to promote local councils. She hosts a podcast, has written a


book and learned how to make the most of social media – all while continuing to work full time.


“ ”


She knows her celebrity status will not last and is taking the opportunity to raise awareness about local democracy while she can


them,” she says – and busy local journalists would surely agree, Despite the chaotic Handforth Zoom meeting, she believes most parish and town councillors do a good job and more journalists should seek election – as long as it was not to a council they were covering. Frost said he had spoken to a student


who wanted to participate in her local council but found everyone else was “white, male and, with one exception, over 60”. A young ex-councillor described protracted discussions about trivial issues, which deterred many people of his age from becoming more involved. Job cuts in the media have led to less reporting of council meetings and stories not being covered, although the BBC-funded local democracy reporting service has helped to redress the balance. Weaver is adamant that she did not


exceed her authority at the infamous Handforth meeting. She told NUJ members that anyone


who had watched the full meeting on YouTube would know that other councillors had asked for the chair to be removed. He had not been thrown out of the meeting but had been put in the Zoom ‘waiting room’ and there was no rule to prevent that. Her experience of journalists has been positive and she has respect for those who have done their homework. She is good-naturedly amused by other interviewers who tell rather than ask her who she is – “the feminist we did not know we needed” or “the champion for women whose voices are not heard”. Weaver celebrated the anniversary of


the day Handforth Parish Council’s meeting went viral by hosting a live comedy line-up of some of the UK’s top comedians. Billed as The Queen of Zoom, she had the authority to do what she liked that night.


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