Mayor faces no-confidence vote after chaos at infamous Handforth Parish Council meeting

Barry Burkhill complains of 'slide towards dictatorship' as he is accused of bringing local authority into 'disrepute' with silence in video meeting

The mayor of Cheshire East Council is facing a vote of no-confidence after he took part in a chaotic parish council meeting that achieved internet infamy as it went viral on social media.

Barry Burkhill, who sits as an independent on Handforth Parish Council, will face the vote on 17 February following claims he brought the wider local authority into “disrepute” as he did not “attempt to intervene” in the dramatic virtual meeting.

Clips of the Zoom meeting have been watched millions of times millions as viewers recoiled and rejoiced at councillors losing their tempers, slinging insults and being kicked out of the video call.

The footage catapulted meeting host Jackie Weaver to fame after she received high praise for her calm handling of the heated encounter, in which one member told her she had “no authority” and another shouted at her to “read the standing orders”.

Cheshire East Conservative councillor Liz Wardlaw proposed the motion of no-confidence in Mr Burkhill, claiming he “made no attempt to intervene as it became clear participants in that meeting were being bullied”.

The motion said: “The recent national coverage of the Handforth Parish Council meeting and our mayor’s participation in that meeting has led us to believe he has brought this council and his role within this council into disrepute.”

Ms Wardlaw’s motion called for Mr Burkhill’s term of office as mayor to “cease immediately”.

It added: “The work that has been done at Cheshire East over the last over the last three years with the cooperation and commitment of all members and officers to transform its culture and reputation from one of bullying and intimidation has been undermined by this sad episode.

“The inaction of the mayor could be seen as a demonstration of his complicity in the bullying that occurred, and this cannot be ignored."

Mr Burkhill denied he had brought local authority into disrepute.

He told the PA news agency: "I was doing my best to uphold the rules and traditions of the law which govern our lives and the institutions which we rely upon to ensure good governance at all levels of society.

"If we lose the ability to run even our small parish councils according to standing orders and the law, then we lose that protection which they bring to our citizens and begin the slide towards dictatorship."

Craig Browne, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council and the leader of the council’s Independent group, told the BBC a council investigation was underway and declined to comment further, as “saying anything could be prejudicial to getting a fair hearing”.