The leadership of the Reform UK group that has taken control of Lancashire County Council is set to be decided 48 hours later than expected.

As the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed earlier this week, the 53 new Reform county councillors had been due to meet on Saturday (10 May) to elect one of their number to the helm of the local party.

However, members are now meeting on Monday to make their decision over who to lead them – with that person then going on to become leader elect of the authority itself.

Read more: National politics decided who sits in County Hall, says new local Tory leader

The latter role will not officially be confirmed until Lancashire County Council’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 22nd May – but should be a formality once the group leader is installed.

Stephen Atkinson, the former Conservative leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council – who defected to Reform in March and was last week elected to County Hall as the new member for Ribble Valley South West – has already announced he will be throwing his hat into the ring for the role.

The allocation of cabinet roles for the new ruling group is also unlikely to emerge until the county council’s AGM.

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