NICOLA Sturgeon's mother has stood down as provost of North Ayrshire Council as the authority's ruling SNP group quit en masse.

It follows the failure of the First Minister’s father Robin to become the third member of his family to win elected office in Scotland, leading to Labour signalling its intent to stage a takeover and seize control of the council.

The party's victory in Irvine last week left it with 12 councillors to the SNP's 11, with six independents holding the balance of power.

But amid clear signs Labour was on the cusp of a coup attempt, with the added attention it would receive for ousting Joan Sturgeon as Provost, the SNP has announced it has resigned as the administration.

In a statement it said: "Given that the SNP group no longer command the largest representation on the council, it is only right that Labour be given the opportunity to form the next administration of the Council.

"Accordingly the SNP group has taken the difficult decision to resign from administration to allow Labour the opportunity to form an administration. In order to ensure the smooth running of the council this resignation will not take place until a new administration can be identified and put in place at the next meeting of the full council."

Mrs Sturgeon said: "With the change in representation on the council it is clear to me that I should allow a complete reset of the council administration, including resigning my own position.

"While the post of Provost is non-political it is elected at the start of every council term and it seems clear to me that I should allow that election to take place in tandem with the democratic election of the new administration. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to serve the people of North Ayrshire and I thank them for giving me the opportunity to do so."

Willie Gibson, Leader of North Ayrshire Council, said, "I am personally hugely disappointed in this change. Since the SNP took control of a failing council in 2012 we have taken huge strides in creating better services for North Ayrshire. Our recent nomination for UK Council of the Year is based not on some random nomination but purely on measurable performance and shows the massive change in our fortunes.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our staff who have contributed so much in these changing times and have ensured that our vision for a better North Ayrshire has come to fruition. In the end, however, the democratic will of the people must be paramount. You can rest assured that I will be working twice as hard to convince those people to elect us as a majority again next May."

The Herald revealed that following Robin Sturgeon's defeat and the swing to Labour, local sources had said securing the political scalp of Provost Joan Sturgeon may prove too hard to resist for Labour.

Despite winning the highest number of first preference votes, Mr Sturgeon was defeated by Labour’s Louise McPhater after second preferences were taken into account. It came after the seat was vacated by Ruth Maguire when she was elected as SNP MSP for Cunninghame South in May.

Mr Sturgeon gained 1,164 first preference votes, to Labour’s 1,029, on a turnout of just under 21 per cent. He blamed his defeat on 639 voters who backed the Tories with their first vote supporting Labour with alternative preferences under the single transferable vote.

Earlier on Wednesday, the leader of the Labour group Perter McNamara said: “Our first concern must be for the stability of the Council and its ability to continue to deliver services to residents throughout North Ayrshire

“However, the political reality is that, with our victory in the by-election, the Labour Group is now the largest group on the council.

“That means there is much to be discussed and we will be immediately instituting talks with the other political groups and the independent councillors.

“We intend to discuss a variety of options with the aim of coming to a conclusion in due course on the best way forward for the Council and for North Ayrshire.”