Hello and welcome to the political party. Today's guest is Britain's most famous local government official Jackie Weaver.

This is such a treat talking to Jackie about to some extent her new fan fame but mainly parish councils which is an under explored and under promoted area of our democratic life.

Even on a show like this, I'm sure I'll have mentioned parish councils in the past but I've never shown a light on them in this detail and I'm slightly embarrassed about that.

I talk about local government a lot on the show but never to that level to that granular level as the policy wants among among you might say.

The date is parish council date and who better to talk about it because I realize even for a deeply politically interested and informed audience like you.

parish councils might be pushing it a bit but fear not we have got the best person to talk us through it all which is Jackie Weaver and we talk about parish councils why enough people don't stand and the profile of people that do the reality of the work the important work that it is it's just great and and it's core actually is a conversation about politics about people and how you how you effectively get things done so there's a real pragmatic element at the center of this but it's wrapped in a hand.

It's wrapped in actually quite a sweet reflections on human nature, I guess, without wanting to make it sound too grandiose and of course the nuts and bolts of politics and what's happening and for since that and soon meeting because I have to ask about now before we come on to the brilliant Jackie Weaver don't forget you can email the show political party podcast at gmail.com first things first thank you so much for all your emails about the Tony Blair event.

I got so many brilliant questions I could only pick a few but every question received was great so thank you for that and thank you for those of you that have left I tune reviews and a cast reviews whatever you listen to it if you can leave a star rating please do.

I mean why would you give it anything less than five I never I never I'm not ready to get a driver of light I don't want to ruin the person's life I just give them a five star so you know approach it in the similar way if you if you have a similar mindset and on iTunes you can leave review anyway.

And emails read that has developed on the show has been seeing politicians in unusual places on the last show we had a wonderful email from someone who's in Neil Kinnock in Tuscanie which is the most new labor place you could have seen someone outside of the grinita restaurant.

This one comes in from Matt he says I spent a couple of years back my wife daughter and I spent two weeks in an Algonne resorts at close quarters to and I hope I'm going to pronounce this now correctly.

Hell-turning Schmidt who of course was the prime minister of Denmark and married to Stephen Kinnock now a labor MP this is another Kinnock citing about and actually it's been realized the first.

The story that prompted all this was something calming Jones in Iceland so that it's all Welsh labor people had if you've seen anyone abroad that isn't a Welsh politician in the labor party this is incredible anyway Matt says I'd met Stephen once and twice and for work things but decided the cool thing to be to totally leave them alone I totally regret that now Matt I don't want to rub it in but of course you should regret it you should say I Steve as a girl.

You could have been knocking around with the prime minister of Denmark mate on your holidays you imagine that if so now when you meet couples on holiday this how will have to meet up now whether you actually get round to it or not is another thing but if you're doing that with the prime minister of Denmark you could have had a state visit Matt anyway let's not rub it in you made the decision at the time based on the information you had and you have to believe that you you took the right decision then even if in retrospect you would do it differently if Stephen Kinnock or hell-turning Schmidt

on listening perhaps I can put you in touch with Matt and some sort of state banquet can be retrospectively arranged indeed if you work for any government or are ahead of state and it's in your gift to give anyone a state banquet banquet email the show political party podcast gmail.com before I come on to Jackie Weaver the tickets for the Kierstheim and Andrea Ledson night I think have sold out I checked them about an hour ago and they'd all gone so that was the 25th of May at the garrick on the 24th of May it's side of us sitting Peter Madison there's only a handful of tickets left for that as

you've only had a handful of tickets left for Jess Phillips and estimate down the second of June tickets for these have just flown out one of them's already sold out so if you're I'm an R ring you're better to buy your tickets soon so they're going to go to go to matford.com slash live now Jackie Weaver what I treat this was if you don't know Jackie went viral early in the year after effectively having to oversee a troublesome local parish council and we talk about what her role is and why that is the way that I'm going to do it.

A live's gone is how do you end up being a council officer having to be the keeper of the rules and effectively referee these things and what makes someone drawn to local government but not seeking office and that's a really interesting discussion with Jackie and anyway she's just a delight to talk to and this is a lovely non ideological exploration of what politics is.

Delights to be joined by Jackie Weaver from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils Jackie or the chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils what does the chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils do.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that struggles with lines Matt. What is the chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils do. I've got used to saying it because of course when I answered the phone it's kind of like you know it's that's the sentence that you use while you give your brain time to catch up with the talking tables.

So there are we sometimes call county secretaries chief officers we have slightly different names and different counties but there's kind of one of me in every one of the old shy account is.

So it's not just something that in Cheshire you got together and decided to set up this is an existing mechanism that exists across just England or all Britain.

England and Wales.

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