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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Kevin Dyson

South Ayrshire Council sees change in Labour and SNP leaders on day of drama

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.

That same day the Labour group 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 Cllr William Grant was elected as Group Leader and Kyle Cllr Julie Dettbarn as Depute Leader. Cllr 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."

Cllrs Henderson and McGinley were Leader and Depute Leader of the last coalition administration, before losing out to the Conservatives in May 2022.

Councillor Henderson has been replaced by Councillor Grant for the SNP, with Kyle Councillor Dettbarn stepping in as Depute Leader.

Councillor Henderson was first elected in 2017, becoming Council Leader in 2020 when previous leader Douglas Campbell resigned the post.

Labour, meanwhile, have selected one of their 2022 intake as leader, with Councillor Townson replacing McGinley, who was first elected in 2012, becoming Depute Leader of the Council in 2017.

Cllr Townson, who represents the rural Kyle ward, said that the 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 the first preference votes, it was the Conservatives who, despite fewer votes and seats than 2018, agreed a deal with the four independent councillors to form the administration.

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