Zoom: who would have thought that holding a meeting over the internet would reveal so much about local councillors?
My sympathies go to the people of Handforth.
Their area of Wilmslow, Cheshire, has become a place of national interest – not to mention hilarity – after a parish council meeting held via the Zoom platform went viral with more than two million views.
Sadly, the reason for its popularity is the misbehaviour of the councillors.
Jackie Weaver, from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, said she was called in to help and “support” two parish councillors to hold the planning meeting. This is what happened:
The meeting, which took place on 10 December, descended into chaos with some people muttering under their breath while others tried to speak, hysterical laughter, participants answering phone calls and members being reprimanded.
When chairman Brian Tolver, who refused to recognise the legitimacy of the meeting, labelled himself as the “clerk”, Ms Weaver said: “The chairman simply declared himself clerk and notified everybody of the case.
“There is no way of stopping him from calling himself clerk. Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on.”
Ms Weaver told the BBC there was a “positive spin” to the video going viral as it “raised the profile” of parish councils.
But she said it also showed an element of “bullying and bad behaviour” in local councils, adding: “A lot of us are working very hard – and that includes central government – to try to do something about that.”
I’m not going to link to any of the footage from the meeting. Feel free to click on the link below if you want to see it.
My point is that this is actually good for democracy. By seeing how our councillors behave (or misbehave) we become better-equipped to decide whether we want those particular people to represent us.
It also de-mystifies the processes of local government.
I predict hard times for some of the Handforth councillors in the future, as they are called to account for their behaviour.
But they have actually done us all a service.
Source: Jackie Weaver: Handforth Parish Council meeting goes viral – BBC News
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