The Opposition Progressive Labour Party will hold a special delegates conference tomorrow to elect a new leader following Paula Cox’s resignation.Contrary to widespread speculation that the party will wait until after the holidays to reconvene, a conference of delegates and Members of Parliament must be held within seven days of the resignation of the party leader, according to the PLP’s Constitution.Ms Cox resigned as party leader on Tuesday. Derrick Burgess, as Deputy Leader, automatically assumed the position of Acting Leader as required by the party’s constitution.The PLP’s 17 Members of Parliament will meet in joint session with the General Conference Delegates to elect the new party leader who must be a parliamentarian.Party officials and the newly elected MPs have held meetings since Monday to discuss the way forward.Yesterday afternoon, party Chairman Anthony Santucci confirmed that a special delegates conference will take place tomorrow at Devonshire Recreation Club.This newspaper understands that veterans Dennis Lister, Randolph Horton and Terry Lister could be leading contenders for the leadership position.All three handily won their seats in Monday’s general election, winning between 56 and 61 percent of the vote in their constituencies.Of the three, Dennis Lister has the most experience as a parliamentarian, having first been elected in 1989.When the party was elected to government nine years later, Mr Lister served as Youth and Sports Minister and then as Environment Minister. He served a stint on the backbenches from 2003 until 2006 but returned to the Cabinet as Minister of Works and Engineering for another year.Acting Leader Derrick Burgess and Walter Roban may also be interested in taking up the mantle of Opposition Leader. If Mr Burgess does make a bid and is elected, the conference will then have to elect a Deputy Leader.Terry Lister, and Mr Horton both won their seats in parliament for the first time in November 1998, while Mr Burgess won his for the first time in a February 1998 by-election.But while the PLP has traditionally rewarded seniority with leadership positions, the parliamentary group may decide to take their cue from the delegates as to who becomes the next leader, with nominations coming from the floor, rather than present a choice of candidates.There is widespread agreement among the PLP hierarchy that the outcome of Monday’s election was primarily the result of party members not participating in the poll.Some party insiders say that Friday’s delegates’ conference would be the first opportunity since the general election for the MPs to demonstrate that they heard the message of disapproval and are now listening keenly to the rank and file of the membership.Whoever is chosen on Friday will serve out the rest of what would have been Ms Cox’s four year term ending in October 2014 when another conference will be held to choose the party’s new leaders.