Not since Brenda from Bristol said “Not another one” about the snap election called in 2017 has a previously unknown figure in British political life become such an overnight sensation. “You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver, none whatsoever,” snarled the chair of Hemsworth Parish Council. A few more similar snipes later and Jackie Weaver showed she really did, ejecting him from the Zoom meeting altogether.
I could fill this entire newspaper with the similar behaviour I have seen from men in our own local councils. Droning, arrogant, sexist, discourteous, oppressive, and that’s just for starters. Concerned people seeing this stuff on councils around here was what brought the first members of the East Devon Alliance of Independents (EDA) together back in 2013.
This was finally catalysed by a national newspaper’s claims involving a senior East Devon District councillor and alleged comments about the local planning system back in 2013.
An impromptu group of us met from communities such as Axminster, Colyton, Exmouth, Honiton, Newton Poppleford, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth and elsewhere with one central concern – what on earth was going on? Over the next couple of years, this became another question: who will stop this if not us? Which is how we came to put up candidates for election in 2015 and 2019 for district, and 2017 and now 2021 for county.
The smear is often deployed against this kite-marked group of Independent councillors under the EDA umbrella that we are a lot of batty conspiracy theorists. We really are not. Our chair was a retired judge, one of our senior members is a retired police inspector. We have retired head teachers, leaders of industry, former Whitehall civil servants, people in medicine - serious and sober thinkers. To me they were exactly what we needed – a whole legion of Jackie Weavers.
Like Jackie Weaver, from her own account, I have absolutely zero personal political ambition. I have ended up leading the district council, but I don’t harbour dreams of becoming an MP or world domination – all I have ever wanted is for councils to run kindly, impartially, truthfully and according to their codes of conduct.
One serious side to this is that if we don’t make sure that is how councils do operate it puts off good people from becoming involved. My own parish council has had a difficult history and frankly still carries some stigma of that. Today there is just one woman on a council of thirteen and, at aged 59, I am in the youth wing. This pattern of poor demographic representation is familiar elsewhere.
Luckily, Zoom meetings now have great potential to save us. Firstly, shown live on YouTube or Facebook they deny the cover of an unwelcoming and intimidating meeting in a draughty hall for the usual suspects. How they speak and perform can now be witnessed by their communities. At last.
They also have the potential to allow younger people, perhaps parents with children, to take part in council meetings too, as well as those with disabilities, or who have to work hours which simply do not permit their lives to grind to a halt two Mondays a month.
The more progressive councils have fully embraced this, but already there are rumblings that post-pandemic the old guards would like things back to how it used to be – a lot of self-interested men with anger management issues utterly dominating the civic lives of our communities.
The Jackie Weavers of this world are our best chance to stop all that forever.