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Happy days: Jackie Weaver would give more funding to parish councils if she were made Chancellor of the Exchequer

Jackie Weaver would give more funding to parish councils if she were made Chancellor of the Exchequer. The 69-year-old shot to fame earlier this year after she kicked argumentative male councillors off an explosive Zoom meeting of Handforth parish council in Cheshire. 

As chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, she remained cool and unflustered when one man told her: 'You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver.' Another shouted: 'Read the standing orders! Read them and understand them!' 

She told Donna Ferguson that financially, her new-found fame after the video footage went viral on the internet has made little difference to her life although she can now earn up to £5,000 for half a day's work. 

Her book of common sense advice, You Do Have Authority Here, is out next month and her humorous podcast Jackie Weaver Has The Authority is available to listen to now. 

What did your parents teach you about money? 

To save it. They were cautious with money and thought you should put it away for a rainy day. 

I come from a working class background. My dad worked at a steelworks in Stoke-onTrent. He started off as a boltmaker and worked his way up to manager. 

My mother did various jobs. She nursed people in a care home, ran an antiques business, and even worked as a taxi driver. I think she never really found out what she wanted to do. 

I knew money was tight when I was growing up because my school uniform was second-hand. We didn't go short of food, but there wasn't a lot of money to go around. That was a source of stress for my parents. 

They always argued about money. Having grown up with angry parents, I hate arguments and I don't like displays of aggression.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet? 

Yes, when I was in my late teens. I left home at 17 and got my first job working for a computing company, showing people how to use its software. I was suddenly eligible for all these credit and store cards and used them to buy lots of stuff. I felt really flush.

I then realised my repayments were not making any impression on my debts and I didn't earn enough money to make bigger payments. 

Eventually, I confessed to my dad I'd run up all this debt. I think it was £1,000 – which was a lot of money in those days. He paid it off as a 21st birthday present. 

That was a turning point. Afterwards, I became more careful with money. Nowadays, I pay off my credit cards in full each month. 

Have you ever been paid silly money? 

Yes. I have done the odd social media advert over the past year. The most I was paid was £5,000 for about half a day's work. This was a few weeks after the Handforth parish council meeting went viral. All I had to do was read a script. 

Companies and organisations now approach me and say: 'We need someone to talk about this, you'd be ideal.' I tell them I don't know anything about it. 'Yes,' they say, 'but you'd still be ideal'.

How has your viral fame affected you? 

Financially, it hasn't made much difference. Most of what I do is either for free or I donate my fee to charity. 

I am in a comfortable financial position and live a frugal life. For example, it would never occur to me and my husband to go out to eat, although we do treat ourselves to fish and chips occasionally. 

The big difference is that I am a lot busier. 

I have met all sorts of interesting people through my podcast and most importantly I have been able to witter on to anyone who will listen about how important town and parish councils are. I now have 30,000 Twitter followers which I see as an opportunity to reach more people and hopefully encourage them, young and old, to get involved.

What was the best financial year of your life? 

It was 2006, the first year I worked full-time. I took a ten-year career break when I had my three children. I think I lost my confidence. Then I started working part-time for the Cheshire Association of Local Councils which provides training and guidance to town and parish councils in Cheshire. 

Back then, we weren't offering a proper training programme and only 50 per cent of councils in Cheshire were members. I helped to build the organisation until, six years later, it was able to support paying me a full-time wage. 

At that point, I started earning a little bit more than my husband. That felt significant. 

In charge: Jackie holding the famous Handforth parish council online meeting

The most expensive thing you have bought for fun? 

It was an embossed black leather handbag for £585. I bought it five years ago and I still remember how much it cost. I really wanted it at the time, but I haven't used it in a while. 

The best money decision you have made? 

Taking out a timeshare. My husband and I used to be really bad at taking holidays. If left to our own devices, a whole year could slip by and we'd never quite get round to organising one. 

Since we got our timeshare ten years ago, we have been on holiday every year because you have to pay the management fees whether you go or not. We usually go to Tenerife for three weeks. We like the timeshare resorts – they are good value and it's an easy way to choose where to go on holiday. I'm not good with too much choice. 

Do you save into a pension? 

Not any more. I used to when I was in my 30s. I then realised that because we were going to inherit a farm in Cheshire from my husband's family, that would become our pension. 

We sold the farm and invested the proceeds in the stock market. Since then, neither of us have needed to work, but I wouldn't know what to do with my life if I wasn't working. 

Why do you invest in the stock market? 

Banks are tight-fisted robbers. I don't appreciate the piddling rates of interest they magnanimously offer savers compared to what they charge borrowers. 

Do you own any property? 

Yes, a five-bedroom house in rural Shropshire. We bought it seven years ago for £325,000 and have made lots of improvements, but I have no idea what it's worth now. I don't keep track of that. 

If you were Chancellor what would you do?

I would give more funding to parish councils and offer their officers free training. The Government has reduced the funding to principal local authorities while setting the maximum amount they can raise through council tax. 

Town and parish councils are picking up the slack for their local communities – funding anything from libraries to swimming pools and adult and children's social care. Yet they still don't get recognised for it. 

What is your number one financial priority? 

To make sure my children, who are now all in their 30s, are financially secure. I want to be able to leave them an inheritance – the way my parents and my husband's parents left us one.