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Parish council video star Jackie Weaver says Captain Spock helped her fight off ‘bullies’ – as she eyes Strictly call up
THE star of a parish council Zoom meeting that descended into a yelling match says Captain Spock helps her fight off bullies - and admits she's eyeing a gig on Strictly.
Pandemonium broke out after Handforth Parish Council Chairman Brian Tolver told Clerk Jackie Weaver that she had “no authority" to take control of the meeting - with the clip since going viral.
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The meeting descended into chaos as councillors traded insults, with Jackie Weaver ultimately kicking Mr Tolver out of the conference call.
The tumultuous meeting - which features one unseen councillor mumbling "f*** off" under their breath - has since been viewed more than four million times.
Now Jackie has exclusively told The Sun she'd do it all again - hours after admitting she wasn't sure if she had the authority to boot Mr Tolver off the conference.
“They were definitely trying to bully me. But I was standing up for what’s right and if asked I would happily chair another meeting tomorrow," the 62-year-old said.
At one point in the meeting Jackie, who lives in Whitchurch, Shropshire, could be heard saying: “OK, call me Britney Spears from now on.”
“I’ve no idea where that came from,” Jackie said.
“I’ve never heard one of her songs and wouldn’t recognise Britney if I fell over her in the street. I much prefer the Rolling Stones or Thin Lizzy.
“My hero is Captain Spock. He’s cool, calm and collected, so maybe I channelled some of that when I was dealing with those men.”
At one point, Mr Tolver told Jackie, who works as chief officer for the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, to "stop talking" - and sneered: "You have no authority here."
Vice-chair Aled Brewerton could also be heard yelling at her to "read the standing orders".
But Jackie remained ice-cool - before ejecting them from the call.
“I’ve worked in local government for 25 years but I have never come across anything quite like that. I was shaking with fear and frustration after the call," she said.
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“I do feel there is a sense of sexism about it and that was one reason I wasn’t going to allow that behaviour to carry on.
“But 99.9 per cent council meetings are just not like that. They're often less exciting than we might hope.
“And I have had nothing but really lovely positive support from people – who of course condemn the behaviour.
“But I am not expecting an apology from those men. I don’t believe they see anything wrong in it, which is the sad thing.”
Another person who wasn’t impressed is Jackie’s devoted husband Stuart.
He told the Sun: “I was astonished when I saw the video. I think all three of them are beyond help.”
For hours yesterday Jackie, who doesn’t know how to use social media, was trending number one on Twitter.
Celebrities, including comic Dara Ó Briain, TV presenter Sue Perkins and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan have since branded her a hero.
T-shirts are now being printed with her face on.
And bookies have even odds of 10/1 for her appearing on Strictly.
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But Jackie said she'd only consider it if she's paired with Anton.
“I’d love to,” Jackie said.
“As long as they pair me with Anton. As for the t-shirts, a few friends are printing their own.
On the front they say ‘You have no authority Jackie’. On that back they say ‘Yes she does!’"
Speaking to BBC Women's Hour this morning, Jackie hinted she wasn't sure who had been in charge of the meeting.
She said: "Of that meeting I'm not actually sure who was in charge.
"We had two councillors who had legitimately called a meeting, and at that point, my job is supporting them to hold that meeting, and to make sure they were able to hold that meeting."
It was reported today that the root of the disagreement was that the chairman Mr Tolver had not attended a meeting for six months.
The viral meeting, held on December 10, wasn't the first time chaos has unfolded, with chair Mr Tolver having previously been evicted from the earlier 7pm Planning and Environment Committee.
And Jackie later admitted to that her knees had been shaking during the standoff.
And she joked she "would have got her hair done" if she had known it would be shared so widely.
She was also pressed over how to keep cool during a tough online meeting, joking Brits shouldn't wear their pyjamas on call.
I was shaking with fear and frustration after the call.
Jackie Weaver
She added: "For me, it's about being focused on what you are trying to achieve."
But Mr Tolver said he did not regret how he acted in the meeting.
He said Jackie - who hosted the Zoom call and removed him from it - was just present as a member of the public and "had no status to speak other than when invited".
"If you look at the first meeting you will see I have reason to be angry," he said.
In the first meeting that he was kicked out from, Mr Tolver claimed the agenda was "concealed" and, following a series of interjections and claims the meeting was not legitimate, he was eventually removed.
Mr Tolver refused to recognise the legitimacy of both meetings.
'Acting like children'
The chaotic parish council meeting lauded as "comedy gold
Janet Taylor, 60, said she felt "embarrassed to be a resident' of the Cheshire village of Handforth after the meeting descended into a foul-mouthed, hour-long shouting match.
Janet said that in over six years of attending local parish council meetings she had never seen anything as "appalling" as she saw in the meeting which was held on Dec 10 last year.
Janet, who has lived in Handforth near Wilmslow, Cheshire, her entire life, said if any professional had acted in a similar manner "they would have been sacked".
She said she's still incredulous the councillors would "act like children" instead of working for the good of the town.
Janet said: "In six years that's the worst meeting I've ever been to. It's a disgrace.
"I was incredulous that someone could act like that in a meeting. If it was a normal meeting they would have been sacked.
"It's just appalling behaviour, I'm embarrassed to be a resident of Handforth. I didn't expect it to go viral but I can understand.
"It's just unfortunate that they can't work together for the good of Handforth instead of their ego.
"I just find it hard to believe they acted the way they did.
"It's an awful state of affairs but when you watch it they act like children."
And during the now viral meeting, he lashed out at the clerk, telling her "you have no authority here Jackie Weaver, no authority at all" before being booted out in scenes compared to The Thick of It.
Another two councillors were then removed from the call despite one person yelling "read the standing orders".
Mr Tolver said: "I cannot think of any other council meeting anywhere, that was taken over by an unqualified member of the public like this.
"Removing half the councillors from the meeting, denied half of the voters of the village from being represented - it was an appalling attack on their democratic rights.
"This made tensions rise, and that is why voices were raised in the second meeting.
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"In the second meeting, I was trying to explain the correct procedure to this lady and say that her actions were way out of order, but she seems to have believed that she could do whatever she chose."
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Since the video went viral, has put Jackie at 14/1 odds to make it on to I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
The videos were posted on Twitter with the caption: “I’ve never missed in person meetings more than i did watching this parish council meeting descend into chaos.”
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Hilarious moment Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting descends into chaos after angry clerk kicks out fuming chairman
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