You’ve got no authority at all: Dysfunctional Handforth Parish Council could now be ABOLISHED

A parish council that went viral after a Zoom meeting descended into chaos could soon be abolished, it emerged today. 

A clip of a Handforth Parish Council meeting in which numerous insults were thrown around and members were kicked out went viral earlier this month.

Jackie Weaver, the acting clerk, shot to fame after chairman Brian Tolver said she had ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to ‘stop talking’.

But Handforth Parish Council could soon disappear if an ongoing boundary review sees Handforth merge with nearby Wilmslow council.

A source close to the council told MailOnline they ‘fully supported’ the merge because the authority was ‘unworkable in its current form’.

‘We’ve got too many people who are interested in power rather than what’s good for the community,’ they said. 

The review began before the meeting went viral, according to the BBC’s political reporter for Cheshire, Phil McCann, who posted on Twitter last night.

He said: ‘Handforth Parish Council could be abolished. A boundary review (which began before their meeting went viral) has suggested it should be merged with Wilmslow.

‘Still needs approval though. Yes, I know parish council boundary changes wouldn’t normally be BREAKING NEWS!!’

Handforth Parish Council’s clerk Ashley Comiskey Dawson told MailOnline he doubted residents would be impressed with a merge.

He added: ‘Firstly I doubt that the residents in Handforth would be very impressed about surrendering their unique identity to fall under the bracket of Wilmslow Town Council.

‘The housing developments occurring in Handforth will take its population to potentially above 10,000 and would therefore qualify to have a town council in its own right. 

‘It would appear from first sight that Cheshire East Council want to strip Handforth of its individuality as well as take away any community infrastructure levy monies already hard fought for by Handforth Parish Council.’

It’s not yet known when the final decision will be made but a source told MailOnline Wilmslow are ‘up in arms’ with one member allegedly saying ‘we won’t have Handforth’.

The source close to Handforth Parish Council said: ‘I got wind of it a while ago. It’s not officially been put forward by the borough council but I fully support it. 

‘Handforth Parish Council is unworkable in its current state. We’ve got too many people who are interested in power rather than what’s good for the community.’

They said the merge would see the number of members rise from 15 to 20 and will go ahead if Cheshire East Council decides regardless of Wilmslow’s opposition.

‘Wilmslow say they don’t want anything to do with Handsforth. Wilmslow won’t have it. They do not understand how this works. The council is responsible for making sure the governments are in order for all the councils under their jurisdiction. 

‘They decide how the councils are going to work. The individual councils can’t decide. They don’t have the power to say no.’

MailOnline has contacted East Cheshire Council and Wilmslow Parish Council for comment. 

It comes just weeks after a video of a Handforth Parish Council meeting went viral online.   

A seven-minute edited highlights package of its 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 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 councillors – 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.’ 

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.  

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.