In a move likely to set the tone for relations between Cosla, the voice of councils, and the Scottish Government, several Labour authorities are accused of ignoring guidance that the number of delegates sent to the organisation should reflect the political makeup of councils,instead confining it to their members.

North Lanarkshire Council has already confirmed that its six representatives will all be Labour councillors. West Dunbartonshire, where Labour took control on May 3, is also understood to be following suit.

Renfrewshire is believed to be sending four Labour councillors from a delegation of five.

Cosla meets tomorrow, when it will select a president, vice-president and six official spokespeople for the next council session. All posts are salaried, with the president understood to receive £10,000-a-year on top of other political pay.

Although the SNP has more councillors across Scotland, it is likely Labour will hold the Cosla balance of power, with former North Ayrshire Council leader David O'Neill taking the president's job.

But now SNP Government ministers and MSPs have accused several Labour-run councils of ignoring official guidance on sending delegates to Cosla, and flooding it with their own members.

But Labour has in turn accused the SNP of "shocking hypocrisy", pointing to Dumfries and Galloway, where Labour is the biggest party but has no representation, and Argyll and Bute, which is all SNP.

Ronnie Nicolson, leader of the Dumfries and Galloway Labour group, said: "Nowhere else in Scotland has the largest council group been locked out of Cosla, but that is what the SNP have done here."