Both of South Ayrshire’s opposition parties have made unprecedented changes at the top on the same day.

The SNP have this week appointed Councillor William Grant as leader, replacing Peter Henderson, who had been in the top job since taking over from Douglas Campbell in 2020.

Councillor Henderson told the Advertiser exclusively on Friday that he will be standing down as a councillor for the Girvan and South Carrick ward on June 30.

He said he had taken the decision due to "personal ill health".

And the authority's Labour group has named Councillor Duncan Townson, who was elected for the first time last May, as replacement for former council depute leader Brian McGinley.

Both parties have denied that the changes have been fractious.

In a statement, the SNP group said that their former leader’s health issues had prompted him to step aside.

They said:  “At the SNP council group AGM on Monday, the Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton councillor William Grant was elected as group leader and Kyle councillor Julie Dettbarn as Depute Leader.

Councillor Peter Henderson has stepped aside, for now, to focus on recent health issues.

“The SNP council group wishes to thank Peter and acknowledge that he has consistently been one of our hardest working councillors since first being elected in 2017.

“Our thoughts are with Peter and his family and we wish him the speediest of recoveries and a rapid return to full health.”

Councillors Henderson and McGinley were leader and depute leader of the last coalition administration, before the Conservatives seized control, with support from some independents, following the May 2022 council election.

Councillor Townson, who represents the rural Kyle ward, said that the Labour group had decided it needed “a little bit of a change of direction” and a “fresh face from the last administration.”

He was keen to emphasise that he would be working on decisions agreed by the Labour group as a whole.

Prior to last May’s local elections, there had been rumours that both Cllr Henderson and McGinley’s own seats were in danger.

While both won re-election, and the SNP and Labour kept all of their seats and saw an increase in their share of first preference votes, it was the Conservatives who, despite winning fewer votes and seats than 2017, agreed a deal with the four independent councillors to form the administration.

Councillor Henderson's resignation will trigger a by-election in the Girvan and South Carrick ward.

South Ayrshire Council says the poll is likely to take place in September, although a date has yet to be confirmed.