Election 2021: Jackie Weaver explains parish councilson April 23, 2021 at 6:01 am

The viral sensation explains what parish councillors do and why you should vote for them on 6 May.

More than 20,000 parish council seats are up for grabs in this year’s local elections. But what do they actually do?

One woman who has the authority to answer is Jackie Weaver – who shot to unlikely fame in a viral video of a chaotic Handforth parish council meeting.

The clip, which inspired a string of memes and social media posts, showed her valiant attempts to bring the session under control.

BBC reporter Jacob Tomlinson caught up with Ms Weaver, who told him: “The place where you live, that’s where we can make a difference”.

The local elections take place on Thursday 6 May.