HUNTINGDONSHIRE’S longest serving county councillor Mac McGuire will be competing against one other Conservative in the leadership contest.

The Hunts Post: Coun Martin Curtis in the running for the CCC leadership.Coun Martin Curtis in the running for the CCC leadership. (Image: Archant)

The county’s 32 Tory councillors will decide at a meeting at 1pm tomorrow (Friday) if Cllr McGuire or Councillor Martin Curtis, who represents Whittlesey North, as their next leader.

Cllr McGuire confirmed today that only “two names were put in the ring”. Candidates had until after midday today to decide whether they were standing.

By Tuesday only Cllrs McGuire and Curtis has announced their intention to stand but Tory sources said that two other names may be thrown in.

The contest is finely poised with eight Conservatives elected in Huntingdonshire and six in Fenland, so the leader could be decided by votes from East and South Cambridgeshire, if councillors vote for their local contestant.

Nick Clarke, who lost his Fulbourn seat to Liberal Democrat John Williams, carries on as leader until the annual council meeting on May 21.