HOW did you spend your teenage years? Agonising over acne? Learning to drive? Or following a band you knew you’d love forever?

Whatever you spent your youth doing, it’s unlikely that you were one of a small group of people watching parish council meetings for fun.

However, that’s exactly what Shaan, 17, from East London does. And now, his discovery of a clip from Handforth Parish Council has gone viral with more than 3 million views.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said that he initially became interested in the videos because of his ‘massive interest in policies enacted by local authorities’, and how funny the tapes can be when meetings go wrong.

Shaan said: “In my spare time, I watch random videos of council meetings because one, I have a massive interest in policies enacted by local authorities, and two all of these videos are usually absolutely hilarious — from old councillors struggling to use zoom and amazing arguments, but none have ever matched Handforth!

“This one caught my eye because the bloke who posted it put hilarious wordart on the cover image, so I decided to give it a watch and it was utterly hilarious.”

However, he never imagined that the video would be so popular: “I’m really amazed! Again, this all started with me sending the clip into a group chat that Janine and I are in, and we all got a proper laugh out of it before it went viral and we had the likes of Michael Fabricant and Richard Osman talking about it!”

Although Shaan discovered the clip, he wasn’t the person who tweeted it.

No, the honour of launching Jackie Weaver into minor stardom goes to Janine Mason, from Stoke.

Like Shaan, Janine cannot believe the reaction: “It’s all a bit insane. I didn’t even know where Handforth was until yesterday!

“I watched the whole video through. I know a friend who is a councillor for Cheshire East and it’s even better with his context.

“It gets funnier every time. Jack Whitehall has tweeted me, and so have drag queens like Baga Chipz and Blu Hydrangea.”

While the clip has been used a launching pad for a variety of parodies, memes, and tributes, Janine believes there is a serious point in the 30-second snippet.

She told the LDRS: “I hope it makes people realise it is quite difficult being in local politics. As funny as it, women get abused a lot for doing their job. As far as I am aware, Jackie Weaver was just doing her job.”

Since the clip has become a hit, Ms Weaver told the BBC that most council meetings ‘just not like that’, and went to say it highlighted an element of ‘bullying’ in local councils.

Handforth Parish Council has been contacted for comment.