Labour have joined with the Tories and a "Rubbish" party independent councillor in voting out the SNP provost Jim Todd at a full council meeting in East Ayrshire this morning.

Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor for Kilmarnock East and Hurlford, Barry Douglas was voted in as the new provost.

Depute provost Claire Leitch was also replaced, with the Rubbish Party councillor Sally Cogley being voted in.

Todd, known as the "Rock 'n' Roll Provost" is currently awaiting a hip replacement and had less than a year to go in his role, while Leitch  the youngest female depute provost in Scotland and the founder of Scotland's Youth Parliament.

The SNP control 14 seats on the council, and one independent representative sided with them on the vote.

Labour control nine seats, the Tories control six and the "Rubbish" party's Sally Cogley makes up a 16th vote, giving the opposition a majority.

One independent candidate, Ellen Freel, abstained.

The SNP wing of the council felt that the vote was a personal attack on the party, but Labour Cllr John McGhee insisted that it was not and that it was time that the roles in the council reflected the make-up of the public body.

Conservative Cllr Tom Cook said: "It’s no disrespect to Jim Todd, he’s served the council very well but there comes a time in everyone's role that it’s time to step aside and let someone else take control. It’s time some of these roles are divided up a bit more."

Council leader Douglas Reid said of Claire Leitch: "She’s excelled my wildest expectations since when we nominated her four years ago. You’ve done a great job Claire."

Cllr John McGhee sought to allay fears that there was anything untoward going on, saying that the council were well within their rights to democratically elect a new provost team. He said: "I want to bust this myth that someone has been ousted. This is a democratic process."

Prior to the vote, the SNP called on Labour leader Anas Sarwar to ensure his party didn't team up with the Tories.

An SNP spokesperson said: “This is a major test of Anas Sarwar’s leadership of Scottish Labour.

“He made a lot of noise about not working with the Scots Tories when their leader Douglas Ross tried to lure him in during the Holyrood election campaign.

“Let’s see if he is a man of his word and sticks to his position on a matter of principle.

“Or will he fold and side with the party of Boris Johnson who will pay for the exorbitant cost of his hard Brexit on the backs of the poorest Scots?"