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Women in Local Government, an Interview with Jackie Weaver

Chamber sat down with Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, Jackie Weaver, to discuss the challenges of women in local government and her experience following the viral Handforth Council meeting.

What was it that got you involved in local government?

โ€œI donโ€™t think my journey is unique. I got involved in my local council around 27 years ago because, like many people, I felt a sense of injustice. Something wasnโ€™t right and I wanted to fix it.โ€

โ€œThe job of Parish Clerk came up when I was a mother with young children, but I didnโ€™t get the job. That wasnโ€™t the injustice, my ego could stand the fact that there was a better candidate. But the job was given to the Chairmanโ€™s wife and I thought, this isnโ€™t right.โ€

What are the biggest challenges you have faced personally in local government?

โ€œI donโ€™t think Iโ€™ve faced any unique challenges but as a young mother with three small children, time was always an issue. Of course, council meetings are not held at family-friendly times, which is always a challenge for women looking after a family.โ€

โ€œThe other challenge in a rural parish was farming, which is a very tight and strong community. If you didnโ€™t come from that community, you were definitely seen as an outsider. Combining that sense of not belonging with household pressures was a real challenge.โ€

Councils and local government are often overlooked, despite performing vital services to communities. What improvements do you think could be made to maximise the impact of local government?

โ€œWhat Iโ€™ve seen over a thirty-year career in local government, is that a lot has changed, and I think itโ€™s helpful to look back at that perspective. However, you donโ€™t have to go as far back as that to see change happening, particularly in Cheshire.โ€

โ€œWe previously had a much larger infrastructure of local government, which has now been condensed over the years. The local authority now only delivers what it has a statutory obligation to deliver. Town and parish councils are now delivering lots of the community work that has been lost.โ€

How have you dealt with the fallout of the infamous video and becoming a champion for women in local government?

โ€œInterestingly, I donโ€™t see myself as a champion. I guess the video itself spoke to a surprisingly large number of people beyond local government. For women who are in any kind of hierarchical situation such as the legal profession, in schools, in the voluntary sectorยพthose dynamics are played out every day and I think that resonated with them. What was perhaps unique about that night was that it was captured, so it showed you can take control of situations without being as aggressive and unpleasant as the people on the other side.โ€

The video highlighted chauvinism and discrimination that exist at all levels of government. What has your experience been like as a woman in local government?

โ€œItโ€™s very interesting to me to talk with other people about their experiences. Iโ€™m probably seen as a big fish in a small pond but my experiences carry no more weight than other women.โ€

โ€œIn my experience, I think itโ€™s worth thinking about the differences between how men and women communicate, I donโ€™t think we always acknowledge that. My experience isnโ€™t a universal truth, and this doesnโ€™t apply to every man on the planet, but many men only have one way of communicating. If that doesnโ€™t work, they only voice their opinions louder.โ€

โ€œHowever, we could talk about how we are going to change the other person from here to Christendom. Or in the alternative, we can look at what weโ€™re doing ourselves to see if we can get a better resultโ€.

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