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.

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But amid clear signs Labour was on the cusp of a coup, involving ousting Joan Sturgeon as Provost, the SNP announced it had 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."

READ MORE: Theresa May urged to 'do the humane thing' and allow EU nationals to remain

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."

The Herald understands the decision to resign was not unanimous within the SNP group and was brought forward a week following the sabre rattling after Labour met yesterday. The council leader, Willie Gibson, is still on holiday in Italy.

READ MORE: Theresa May urged to 'do the humane thing' and allow EU nationals to remain

A North Ayrshire spokeswoman said a 'special council' meeting would now be held on August 30 "to consider the resignation of the current administration and to make arrangements for a new council to be formed".

Once source said the move was designed to force their opponents to "put up or shut up", adding: "We didn't want to be in control but not in power and nor did we want to be waiting around for Labour to make a move.

"There's division in Labour about what to do. I genuinely don't know. But this forces their hand." 

Mr Gibson 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.

"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."

READ MORE: Theresa May urged to 'do the humane thing' and allow EU nationals to remain

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.

Earlier on Wednesday, the leader of the Labour group Peter McNamara said: "The political reality is that, with our victory in the by-election, the Labour group is now the largest group on the council.

READ MORE: Theresa May urged to 'do the humane thing' and allow EU nationals to remain

“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.”