Episode Details

Today we sat down with Jackie Weaver, Chief Officer at Cheshire Association of Local Councils. Jackie shot to stardom in 2021, when she became a global superstar after she was called in to moderate a Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting in the absence of the clerk. Greeted with difficult parish councillors, one famously declaring “you have no authority here Jackie Weaver.”

The viral video provided an opportunity to shine a light on parish and town councils and the important role they provide.

Today we discussed navigating civic apathy: unravelling behaviour Challenges affecting Local Government.

A honest conversation which had the following key takeaways:

1) The education system needs to provide children with an understanding as to how democracy works at a local level

2) Bad behaviour needs to be called and not tolerated straight away.

3) We need a new label to describe the 25-45 year old bracket, whom we are not attempting to engage with in local government, the term “young people” can be misleading as it normally draws the listener to the 16-20 year old bracket.