Jackie Weaver now claims she DID have power to boot off rivals

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Viral council meeting star Jackie Weaver has insisted she did have the power to boot out a ‘disruptive’ council chairman who ordered her to ‘stop talking’ in a now-viral Zoom hearing, MailOnline can reveal.

A seven-minute edited highlights package of Handforth Parish Council planning committee’s December meeting captured a multitude of chaos – including one person shouting ‘f*** off’, someone flushing a toilet and another answering the front door. 

But the real show-stealer was acting-clerk Jackie who kicked out council chairman Brian Tolver after he told her she has ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to to ‘stop talking’. 

Factions of the council backing Mr Tolver claim she had no right to kick the kick the chairman out. But Jackie – who chairs the Cheshire Association of Local Councillors – has insisted she did because the meeting was not called by the chairman nor the council’s official clerk. 

Her action has gained her wide-spread support, with Jackie’s husband Stuart Weaver, 69 – a retired design engineer – telling MailOnline that he’s ‘proud’ of his wife for standing up to them.

Jackie – who has worked with Handforth Parish Council on and off for nine years – says the hostility from Mr Tolver’s faction of councillors was hardly a surprise.

Councillors Cynthia Samson, John Smith and Susan Moore – who can all be seen in the zoom – asked Jackie to act as clerk in the meeting because the council’s formal clerk had been suspended by Mr Tolver.

Jackie said she ‘thought something might kick off’ so took on the role herself – rather than pass it onto someone more junior.

In a normal parish council meeting, Jackie wouldn’t have the authority to remove someone, but because it was called by two coucillors – who risked having the hearing ‘hijacked’ – she says she did.

Jackie earlier admitted that ‘there is an element of bullying and bad behaviour around in local councils’ – with councillor Peter Moore, 70, one of those on the Zoom call, describing Handforth Parish Council as a ‘den of bullying’. 

Jackie told MailOnline: ‘I had the authority to kick them of the call. They shout all the statements about it being illegal but I’ve been doing this for 25 years.

‘If it had been a normal parish meeting I wouldn’t have had the authority to do that.

‘But it was not called by the clerk, it was not called by the chairman, it was called by two councillors, and, therefore, when someone disrupted that meeting I felt perfectly justified in kicking them out.

She added: ‘We provide guidance, support and training to local councils so when the council has had difficulties, we are the organisation that is approached to ask for assistance.

‘The monitoring officer from Cheshire East asked me to attend Handforth Parish Council and deliver code of conduct training.

‘And guess who didn’t attend the training? Brian Tolver, Aled Brewerton, Barry Burkill didn’t attend. The other three councillors [Mr Smith, Ms Samson and Ms Moore] did attend and do everything by the book, hence my involvement in the meeting.

‘They had no one to clerk the meeting and the chairman would not call a meeting, so they have the right to call a meeting.

‘I said I would clerk it for them because it was already a toxic environment and I wasn’t going to send anyone else in to do it and it was as soon as Tolver started speaking [it became clear] that his own purpose that night was to disrupt the meeting.

‘I’ve been asked if it was difficult to do. I just felt the important thing was to try to support the three councillors who had tried to do everything by the book and where about to have their legitimate meeting hijacked yet again.’

The row started several months ago between two warring camps within the parish council with four on one side and three on the other.

One councillor, Jean Thompson, was dismissed as she did not attend meetings for six months. 

It left the council split, with three councillors on each side: chairman Mr Tolver, Aled Brewerton and Barry Burkhill versus Mr Smith, Ms Samson and Ms Moore.

Mr Tolver was thrown out of the pre-Christmas hearing – the second meeting in a row – after he accused rival councillors of calling it illegally and yelling: ‘You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver! NO AUTHORITY AT ALL!’ and repeatedly telling her to ‘stop talking’. 

Jackie, acting as the clerk, then kicked him off Zoom for being ‘disruptive’. She was not in charge of the previous meeting when Mr Tolver was kicked out.

In response, Mr Tolver’s ally Councillor Mr Brewerton is shown angrily shouting at Ms Weaver when she tries to elect a new chairman: ‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge! Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!’.

Jackie told MailOnline: ‘They were annoyed because I wouldn’t tolerate their behaviour. My life is usually very dull and this doesn’t normally happen.

‘I would normally ask someone else to go to the meeting but I thought something might kick off, so I thought I go and do it myself.’  

‘I couldn’t believe the reaction of Brewerton. He was very angry.’

In her role as Chief Officer of Cheshire Association of Local Councils, Jackie helped set up Handforth Parish Council nine years ago. 

She said she’s ‘surprised by all the coverage’ as the council meeting – shared to YouTube as a record in December – garnered no interest in the time.

She says there was ‘calm for a minute or two’ which was edited out of the viral footage.

Her husband Stuart said he thinks the video ‘will focus people’s attention on parish councils’ adding: ‘Jackie has always been a key player during her 25 years and there will be very few people in the lower tiers of the civil service that do not know of her.

‘We are happy that it has caught people’s attention, as we felt a little downtrodden with the antics of a few on Handforth Parish Council.

‘I’m proud she stood up to them.’

Councillor John Smith – who ended up chairing the meeting – backed Jackie up, claiming she did have the power to kick people out.

He said: ‘It’s nonsense to say it was illegal.

‘A normal member of the public can take the minutes of a council meeting.

‘This is just them trying to cling onto power.’

The clash was put onto YouTube by Mr Smith, Mrs Samson and Mrs Moore as a matter of public record.

He added: ‘We decided to upload the footage onto the internet as it’s a public record.

‘There is nothing wrong with that – we do not live in a Stalinist state.’

Addressing the row, Jackie earlier told ITV News: ‘I’m glad I was sitting not standing, my knees were shaking. No, I didn’t feel as confident as I looked but I was just determined that they were going to be able to hold that meeting’. 

Jackie has received messages of support from around the world amid claims the hectoring she received amounted to sexist bullying. 

She said: ‘I guess part of that, is people see on the video an elderly woman being besieged by three men, and that was very uncomfortable’. When asked about what it’s like to be a social media star she added: ‘I’m trending? I don’t even know what that means’. 

Ms Weaver told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: ‘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.’ She added: ‘I’m not a councillor nor am I member of the parish council’. 

And in a sign their battle won’t go away, the man she ejected, chairman Mr Tolver, doubled down today, insisting he had no regrets about his behaviour and said his nemesis ‘had no status to speak other than when invited’. 

Mr Tolver, who said he was the only person with the power to eject councillors, said today of Ms Weaver’s behaviour: ‘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.’ 

Handforth is just north of Wilmslow which is part of Cheshire affluent ‘Golden Triangle’ area popular with Premier League footballers. Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United and food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford lives there.  Handforth itself a largely middle-class area with a shopping centre, several pubs and a large garden centre.

The row began when the council’s chairman Brian Tolver was accused of not attending meetings for around six months because he didn’t consider them legitimate. 

It appears that the battle between the two camps is not over a controversial planning application or footpaths, but a bureaucratic dispute over who runs the council.

One faction, backing the authority of Jackie Weaver, claims Brian Tolver is a ‘disgraceful’ chairman who has too much power and is stopping the council making any decisions. Mr Tover’s supporters believe a coup is underway and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the December 10 meeting that has exploded online.

And today MailOnline can reveal it is not the first time things have got heated, after unearthing footage of a 2017 meeting that exploded during discussions about plans for more car-parking and affordable housing in Handforth. Footage of the meeting showed councillors standing up, pointing fingers and shouting at each other as the debate over the future of the town boiled over as one female councillor yelled repeatedly: ‘Don’t dictate to me’. 

Peter Moore, 70, one of those on the zoom call, described the parish council as a ‘den of bullying’ which has been warring for months, prompting the laptop fisticuffs. ‘It has become chaotic,’ he told MailOnline. ‘Nothing is getting done. It has been like this for a while. This meeting was brought forward to try and get things moving.

‘They came to the meeting to disrupt it – the aggressive and bullying ones. They have turned it into a den of bullying.’  

A clip of the December 10 meeting, which was put on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, had been viewed more than three million times by Friday morning.

The meeting of the parish council in Cheshire marked the second time Mr Tolver had been removed, having previously been evicted from the earlier 7pm planning and environment committee call.

In the 7.30pm extraordinary meeting, Mr Tolver told Ms Weaver, chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils (ChALC), to ‘stop talking’, and added: ‘You have no authority here.’

In response, Ms Weaver removed Mr Tolver from the Zoom call and placed him in a virtual waiting room.

After Jackie Weaver ejects Mr Tolver, his ally Councillor Aled Brewerton is shown angrily shouting at Ms Weaver when she tries to elect a new chairman: ‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge! Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!’. 

An irate Cllr Brewerton then yells off camera: ‘We’re trying to have a Teams meeting you fool!’ He was also later ejected.

The row came weeks after another brutal meeting where Jackie Weaver had ejected the chairman from the Zoom.

Mr Tolver had claimed the agenda was ‘concealed’ and, following a series of interjections and claims the meeting was not legitimate, he was eventually removed by Ms Weaver.

Ms Weaver claims she had been asked to be there as a member of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils after a series of row. 

Mr Moore, the husband of councillor Susan Moore, said: ‘One councillor didn’t attend for six months so by council law you are gone.

‘A partial observer would say that (Mr Tolver, Mr Brewerton and Mr Burkhill) will lose control in May with the council elections.

‘That is what is driving it. They tend to block things that they do not put forward.

‘The controlling group has become increasingly angry and aggressive. They do nothing. They fought very hard to keep the councillor but she is missing.’ 

Councillor Barry Burkhill’s wife Sue Bideford who is deputy mayoress of Cheshire East, said: ‘The meeting was illegal and should not have been allowed.

‘But what is behind it is a poisonous power grab.’  

Jackie said earlier today: ‘If you want the boring detail, 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.’ She added: ‘I’m not a councillor nor am I member of the parish council’.

And Ms Weaver has admitted today that she was there in a support role but insisted she was badly treated by ‘bullying’ councillors.  

She said: ‘I’ve had nothing but really lovely positive support from people, who of course condemned the behaviour. There is an element of bullying and bad behaviour around in local councils, and a lot of us are working very hard, that involves central government, to try to do something about that’.     

Mr Tolver today said he did not regret how he had acted in the meeting, including telling Ms Weaver to ‘stop talking’, and insisted she had no authority to throw him out.

He said Ms Weaver – who hosted the Zoom call and removed him from it – was not the true clerk and 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.

Mr Tolver added he had never seen another instance where a council meeting was taken over by an ‘unqualified member of the public’, in reference to Ms Weaver.

His said: ‘The video that you have viewed is the second Parish Council meeting of that evening.

‘That shows the angry reaction from councillors to the illegal behaviour of Jackie Weaver in the first meeting – the provocation that caused that reaction.

‘The law concerns the conduct of Parish Council meetings states as follows: ‘At a meeting of a parish council the chairman, if present, shall preside*’

‘The action of the person operating the Zoom system (Jackie Weaver) was a serious breach of this law. Not only was I prevented from conducting the meeting, two other councillors were also ejected by the same lady for protesting that my ejection was unlawful.

‘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, of which you have copies of or will have seen on the internet.

‘In the second meeting, I was trying to explain the correct procedure to this lady and say her actions were out of order, but she seems to have believed that she could do whatever she chose.

‘I have never, ever heard of someone abusing the proper process of conducting council meetings in such an extraordinary fashion as she did.

‘I am still somewhat in shock that anyone would interfere in the proper democratic rights of residents in this way.’

The parish councillors have recently argued over a £5,000 donation to a food bank, paths, planning as well as improvements to a war memorial. 

County councillor Jule Smith, who is parish councillor John Smith’s wife, said; ‘This has been going on for years. ‘There have been lots of arguments over the years even recently over a food bank. ‘This just makes us a laughing stock. It’s very disappointing.’ 

Video footage of another row involving Handforth Parish Council more than three years ago has emerged.

The video shows a heated meeting at Handforth Youth Centre involving the the-then crop of councillors discussing money for more car-parking and affordable housing in Handforth.

A member of the public claims Brian Tolver had praised fellow councillor Brian Burkill for securing funding for improvements to the village.

But the member of the public said the council had not received ‘a penny of the funding’ for over two years.

Councillors then have a heated back-and-forth with the public over getting more funding for the area.

The row took place in 2017, prior to the 2019 election, where a number of new councillors were elected. 

Video footage of another row involving Handforth Parish Council more than three years ago has emerged.

The video shows a heated meeting at Handforth Youth Centre involving the the-then crop of councillors discussing money for more car-parking and affordable housing in Handforth.

A member of the public claims Brian Tolver had praised fellow councillor Brian Burkill for securing funding for improvements to the village.

But the member of the public said the council had not received ‘a penny of the funding’ for over two years.

Councillors then have a heated back-and-forth with the public over getting more funding for the area.

The row took place in 2017, prior to the 2019 election, where a number of new councillors were elected. 

Jackie Weaver became a global Twitter trending topic last night and today finds herself installed as a tongue-in-cheek favourite to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

But the December 10 Handforth Parish Council Planning & Environment Committee meeting was, its minutes assure us, an extraordinary meeting – leaving a shocking trail of chaos, power grabs and insults.

The meeting, footage of which surfaced yesterday, starts badly.

As the fine burghers of the east Cheshire village (‘a fast-growing community connecting Cheshire to Greater Manchester, with a major retail centre and luxury car outlets, and easy access to Manchester Airport’) gather for the 7:30pm Zoom call, a male voice chimes in from off-camera. ‘F*** off,’ he says.

We then meet parish council chairman Brian Tolver and matters don’t improve. His Zoom title, despite being the chairman, is ‘Handforth PC clerk’. There is clearly history here.

Mrs Weaver said no one could stop Cllr Tolver describing himself as the meeting’s clerk, or indeed anything else. ‘Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on,’ she adds. 

He addresses the meeting’s actual clerk, Jackie Weaver, drafted in from the peacekeeping corps of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils. ‘Can we be assured that we won’t be thrown out of the meeting like we were last time?’ he says, leaning towards the camera and sucking his teeth for emphasis.

‘As long as we have reasonable behaviour from everyone,’ Mrs Weaver replies.

A reasonable request, perhaps. But Cllr Tolver is an independent councillor in more than just name.

He was thrown out last time, he reminds the room. (‘Quite rightly too,’ a colleague pipes up.) And before the meeting can even begin, he returns to taking Mrs Weaver to task. What is she doing there?

‘I am here offering support to Handforth Parish Council in the conduct of the meeting this evening,’ she assures him, but Cllr Tolver is having none of it. This Zoom call ain’t big enough for two parish council clerks.

‘It isn’t the role of someone who, however kindly, volunteers to do the clerking of a meeting to act as a Proper Officer if they haven’t so been appointed,’ Cllr Tolver insists. ‘That’s against the law.’

Ms Weaver attempts to fight her corner, but the chair remains sturdy, if inelegant. ‘Stop talking,’ he bellows.

The chair decides business at Handforth Parish Council meetings, the chair insists, and ‘God knows what you’re doing in your job’ if you don’t know that. (‘Who is this woman?’ another disembodied voice asks.)

Cllr Tolver continues with another reference to the previous darkness casting a shadow over today’s proceedings. 

‘We will start the meeting, and I want to repeat what I said at the beginning of the last meeting, that this meeting has not been called according to the law. The law has been broken.’

‘It has been properly called,’ Mrs Weaver assures him.

‘Will you PLEASE let the chairman speak,’ the chairman demands.

‘Mrs Weaver PLEASE,’ a further man squeaks from ‘Aled’s iPad’ on the Zoom sidelines. The crowd is getting agitated.

Mrs Weaver attempts to regain calm. ‘If you disrupt this meeting, I will have to remove you from it,’ she says,

‘You can’t! It is only the chairman who can remove people from a meeting,’ the chairman, who was removed from the previous meeting, cries. ‘You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver! NO AUTHORITY AT ALL!’

It was a bold shot – one likely to live on in memes, on mugs and on t-shirts – but it was his parting one.

‘She’s just kicked him out,’ says Aled’s iPad, which it seemingly takes two men to operate.

Mrs Weaver attempts to continue: ‘This is a meeting called by two councillors…’

‘Illegally,’ the squeakier of the Aleds interjects.

‘…who can now elect a new chairman,’ Mrs Weaver patiently finishes.

‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge!’ Squeaky Aled leans forward, revealing himself as Cllr Aled Brewerton. ‘Read the standing orders,’ he roars at Ms Weaver. ‘READ THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM!’

‘Deary me,’ someone sighs.

Cllr Barry Burkhill appears, squinting at a camera from a room basking in an unreassuring yellow glow.

‘Where’s the chairman?’ he asks, a theme he returns to over the coming minutes, regardless of who is speaking.

Mrs Weaver again attempts to get a new chairman elected – but Cllr Burkhill assures her ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’.

‘Can I ask you to be respectful to Jackie Weaver please,’ a female colleague on the call says, prompting belly laughs from the stalls. Non-squeaky Aled holds his stomach and rocks back and forth in glee. Good one! Be respectful to Jackie Weaver! Jackie Weaver has no authority here!

Cllr Brewerton notices Cllr Burkhill has now been removed too, and he’s not squeaking now – instead hissing.

‘We’re trying to have a Teams meeting, you fool,’ he rasps, regrettably off camera so whether his head rotated at the same time remained unclear.

But saintly Jackie is more than a match for such foes. With a wave of her dismissing finger, both men on Aled’s iPad vanish, joining Cllrs Tolver and Burkhill in the limbo of the waiting area.

Cllr John Smith is elected chairman and the meeting can begin. ‘Welcome to Handforth,’ he says, wearily.

‘It’s nothing if not lively,’ Mrs Weaver responds. 

‘Read the standing orders, LEARN THEM!’: Internet explodes in memes as Handforth Parish Council members are likened to Conan the Barbarian and Gandalf after fiery Zoom meeting was watched by 2m people across globe

Social media has today exploded with memes about a bizarre parish council meeting which ended in a blazing row.

People took to the internet to mock the meeting, which saw a huge argument break out during an online meeting of Handforth Parish Council in Cheshire.

Members of the council were likened to Conan the Barbarian and the Lord of the Rings wizard Gandalf, as people used the internet to poke fun at comical parish council video – which has now been watched by 2million people across the globe.

One Twitter user compared the moment a councillor screams ‘READ THE STANDING ORDERS, READ THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM’ during the conference call to the famous ‘THIS, IS, SPARTA’ scene in the Hollywood blockbuster ‘300’. 

Another, using the same quote, compared it with an image of a famous bust-up between Newcastle team mates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer during a Premier League match in 2005. 

Others compared the huge row during the tiny village council meeting to Tubbs – the insidious shop owner from comedy show League of Gentlemen who claimed her store was a ‘local shop for local people’.

Social media users also picked up on part of the row in which local government assistant Jackie Weaver referred to herself as ‘Britney Spears’ when one of the councillors changed their Zoom name to ‘Handforth PC Clerk’.

Others backed Jackie – who is not a councillor but was providing mediation for the extraordinary meeting – due to her calm and controlled responses in the face of rising anger from councillors. 

Some also compared the incident to Dawn French’s show the Vicar of Dibley, where the comedian’s character would take part in meetings of the bungling local council. 

The incident was sparked after December 10th Handforth Parish Council Planning & Environment Committee meeting was posted online. 

The meeting, footage of which surfaced yesterday, starts badly.

As the fine burghers of the east Cheshire village (‘a fast-growing community connecting Cheshire to Greater Manchester, with a major retail centre and luxury car outlets, and easy access to Manchester Airport’) gather for the 7:30pm Zoom call, a male voice chimes in from off-camera. ‘F*** off,’ he says.

We then meet parish council chairman Brian Tolver and matters don’t improve. His Zoom title, despite being the chairman, is ‘Handforth PC clerk’. There is clearly history here.

Mrs Weaver said no one could stop Cllr Tolver describing himself as the meeting’s clerk, or indeed anything else. ‘Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on,’ she adds. 

He addresses the meeting’s actual clerk, Jackie Weaver, drafted in from the peacekeeping corps of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils. ‘Can we be assured that we won’t be thrown out of the meeting like we were last time?’ he says, leaning towards the camera and sucking his teeth for emphasis.

‘As long as we have reasonable behaviour from everyone,’ Mrs Weaver replies.

A reasonable request, perhaps. But Cllr Tolver is an independent councillor in more than just name.

He was thrown out last time, he reminds the room. (‘Quite rightly too,’ a colleague pipes up.) And before the meeting can even begin, he returns to taking Mrs Weaver to task. What is she doing there?

‘I am here offering support to Handforth Parish Council in the conduct of the meeting this evening,’ she assures him, but Cllr Tolver is having none of it. This Zoom call ain’t big enough for two parish council clerks.

‘It isn’t the role of someone who, however kindly, volunteers to do the clerking of a meeting to act as a Proper Officer if they haven’t so been appointed,’ Cllr Tolver insists. ‘That’s against the law.’  

Ms Weaver attempts to fight her corner, but the chair remains sturdy, if inelegant. ‘Stop talking,’ he bellows.

The chair decides business at Handforth Parish Council meetings, the chair insists, and ‘God knows what you’re doing in your job’ if you don’t know that. (‘Who is this woman?’ another disembodied voice asks.)

Cllr Tolver continues with another reference to the previous darkness casting a shadow over today’s proceedings.

‘We will start the meeting, and I want to repeat what I said at the beginning of the last meeting, that this meeting has not been called according to the law. The law has been broken.’

‘It has been properly called,’ Mrs Weaver assures him.

‘Will you PLEASE let the chairman speak,’ the chairman demands.

‘Mrs Weaver PLEASE,’ a further man squeaks from ‘Aled’s iPad’ on the Zoom sidelines. The crowd is getting agitated.

Mrs Weaver attempts to regain calm. ‘If you disrupt this meeting, I will have to remove you from it,’ she says,

‘You can’t! It is only the chairman who can remove people from a meeting,’ the chairman, who was removed from the previous meeting, cries. ‘You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver! NO AUTHORITY AT ALL!’

It was a bold shot – one likely to live on in memes, on mugs and on t-shirts – but it was his parting one.

‘She’s just kicked him out,’ says Aled’s iPad, which it seemingly takes two men to operate.

Mrs Weaver attempts to continue: ‘This is a meeting called by two councillors…’

‘Illegally,’ the squeakier of the Aleds interjects.

‘…who can now elect a new chairman,’ Mrs Weaver patiently finishes.

‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge!’ Squeaky Aled leans forward, revealing himself as Cllr Aled Brewerton. ‘Read the standing orders,’ he roars at Ms Weaver. ‘READ THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM!’

‘Deary me,’ someone sighs.

Cllr Barry Burkhill appears, squinting at a camera from a room basking in an unreassuring yellow glow.

‘Where’s the chairman?’ he asks, a theme he returns to over the coming minutes, regardless of who is speaking.

Mrs Weaver again attempts to get a new chairman elected – but Cllr Burkhill assures her ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’.

‘Can I ask you to be respectful to Jackie Weaver please,’ a female colleague on the call says, prompting belly laughs from the stalls. Non-squeaky Aled holds his stomach and rocks back and forth in glee. Good one! Be respectful to Jackie Weaver! Jackie Weaver has no authority here!

Cllr Brewerton notices Cllr Burkhill has now been removed too, and he’s not squeaking now – instead hissing, like the possessed young girl in The Exorcist 

‘We’re trying to have a Teams meeting, you fool,’ he rasps, regrettably off camera so whether his head rotated at the same time remained unclear.

But saintly Jackie is more than a match for such foes. With a wave of her dismissing finger, both men on Aled’s iPad vanish, joining Cllrs Tolver and Burkhill in the limbo of the waiting area.

Cllr John Smith is elected chairman and the meeting can begin. ‘Welcome to Handforth,’ he says, wearily.

‘It’s nothing if not lively,’ Mrs Weaver responds.

Lively indeed.

‘Make this a mini series on Netflix,’ one internet user demanded last night as footage swirled around the web.

The hilarious clips of the meeting were viewed thousands of times on Twitter, with people creating memes of Jackie Weaver removing councillors and jokes about standing orders.

TV presenter Richard Osman tweeted: ‘Am busily writing Jackie Weaver into the next Thursday Murder Club novel.’

‘Jackie Weaver could sort Spurs out,’ opined actor Stephen Mangan 

Broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika joked: ‘After days of rowing about patriotism & flags, can we agree that Jackie Weaver & that zoom makes us proud to be British.’

And TV’s Sue Perkins summed up the feeling of thousands, adding: ‘I will not sleep tonight until I have gone through every Jackie Weaver related tweet on the internet #jackieweaverhastheauthority’ 

Presenter Steph McGovern said: ‘But what happens next???’ It’s a tantalising question. Will there be a sequel?’