Two leading Lancashire politicians have condemned the concept of a directly-elected mayor for the county – with one of them also promising a referendum on the issue if their party wins power at next month’s local elections.
Even millions of signatures doesn’t guarantee success 😬
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![Reform UK winners and supporters in Ribble Valley - including county councillors Ged Mirfin [front, second from right] and leadership candidate Stephen Atkinson [front centre]](https://www.lep.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2025/05/06/11/54/Reform-winners-Ribble-Valley.jpeg?trim=0,252,0,252&crop=&quality=70&width=129)
![[From left to right] County Cllr Gina Dowding (Green Party), County Cllr Scott Smith (Conservative), County Cllr John Potter (Liberal Democrats), County Cllr Matthew Tomlinson (Labour) and Cllr Stephen Atkinson (Reform UK) at a local elections debate ahead of the poll on 1st May](https://www.lep.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2025/04/21/1/01/wlep-16-04-2025-lcc-hustings-1-nw.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&crop=&quality=70&width=280)
![Making the case for their parties were [from left to right]: County Cllr Gina Dowding, Green Party group leader, LCC; County Cllr Scott Smith Conservative, lead member for highways and active travel, LCC; John Potter, Liberal Democrats, LCC; County Cllr Matthew Tomlinson, Labour opposition group leader, LCC; Cllr Stephen Atkinson, Reform UK, leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council](https://www.lep.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2025/04/17/11/10/LCC-hustings-debate-2025.png?trim=0,0,0,0&crop=&quality=70&width=280)
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