In a conference suite on the fourth floor of Lancashire County Council's headquarters, Joshua Roberts smiles as he is handed his new badge.
The 27-year-old's photo ID includes his name and new title – Lancashire County Councillor – and hangs off a lanyard that's coincidentally in the trademark turquoise of Reform UK.
Roberts runs a website and social media business and has never held elected office before, but now he's one of 53 Reform councillors responsible for running services on behalf of more than 1.2 million people across Lancashire.
"I am new, but we've got experienced people too," he said. "I'm glad we're not all new because it would be very intimidating.
"We've had really good officers who have helped us. We've got experienced county councillors who've helped us as well. I feel at ease, I feel like we're going to make real good change."
Roberts and his colleagues were attending an induction day organised by council staff for newly elected councillors to get to grips with their roles.
As well as collecting their lanyards and being assigned IT login details, there were officers on hand to talk through some aspects of council services and how the authority works.
