Conservatives take over control of Dumfries and Galloway Council

Conservative Gail MacGregor was voted in as the new leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council

The Conservatives have taken control of Dumfries and Galloway Council at a special meeting of the local authority.

It comes after the collapse of the previous coalition which failed to get its budget proposals approved.

Following a vote, Gail MacGregor was appointed the new leader with Malcolm Johnstone chosen as her deputy.

The SNP's Stephen Thompson stepped down as leader of the council after failing to get budget proposals voted through last week.

• The coalition that fell apart in 280 days

• Listen to the news for Dumfries and Galloway on BBC Sounds

The local authority in Dumfries and Galloway was run by an administration involving SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent councillors up until early February.

At that point Labour co-leader Linda Dorward stepped down from her role, citing political differences.

It left Mr Thompson in sole charge but he resigned when SNP-independent budget plans lost out to those tabled by the Conservative group.

The Conservatives have now taken over control of the local authority with Ms MacGregor taking up the leader's role and Mr Johnstone as her deputy.

Both decisions were taken to a vote as Labour made proposals for both roles but they were voted down.

The Conservatives do not have enough councillors for an overall majority on the 43-member authority.

However, their nominations were backed by Richard Brodie of the Lib Dems and two independent councillors - David Slater and Denis Male.

Their support ensured both votes were won by 20 votes to eight with 13 abstentions.