THE leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, Councillor Kevin Madge has been ousted by his own party after seven years at the helm.

Cllr Madge, who has led the county council since 2012, was removed from the position as head of the Labour Group at County Hall following a leadership ballot on Monday afternoon.

Rumours began circulating that Cllr Madge faced a leadership challenge late last week, however a Labour insider denied Cllr Madge had been the victim of a coup.

"The leader is elected through a secret ballot at each AGM," he said. "It is a democratic process."

Even so, it will have been an unusual step to have voted a leader while the party was in power at County Hall.

Labour councillors at the group’s AGM voted to replace Cllr Madge with Cllr Jeff Edmunds of the Bigyn ward.

In a statement issued following the vote, Cllr Jan Williams, Chair of Carmarthenshire Labour Group, confirmed that Cllr Edmunds had been elected leader.

`“I would like to congratulate Cllr Edmunds on his election as leader of the Labour Group,” said Cllr Williams. “We believe he will provide strong leadership in the tough time ahead for local government.

“I would also like to thank our outgoing leader Cllr Kevin Madge, for his personal and public contribution to Carmarthenshire and the Labour Party.”

Cllr Madge will now stand down as leader of the county council ahead of the AGM later this month.

Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Cllr Madge said he was “bitterly disappointed”.

“I have given everything to Carmarthenshire and the Labour party over the past 37 years,” he said.

“I will now concentrate on the people of Garnant as best I can. I will move on.”