A NEW leader of Powys County Council has been elected after Councillor David Jones was ousted from the post.

Montgomeryshire member Cllr Barry Thomas defeated two other councillors, in a two round ballot, to succeed Cllr Jones who lost a confidence vote.

Cllr Thomas is a member of the six strong 'Non-political' group - the third split amongst the council's 48 independent members.

The vote had been called by former cabinet members, sacked by Cllr Jones at the end of November, after he ignored the wishes of his Shires Independent Group (SIG) and formed a coalition of independent councillors to run the authority which is facing budget cuts of £20 million this year and £40 million over three years.

Councillors Graham Brown and Myfanwy Alexander had put forward the motion that Cllr Jones be removed from his post. Cllr Jones, who had led the authority since the May 2012 local government elections, lost that confidence vote with 40 members voting to remove him against 32 voting in his support.

Former cabinet member for education, Cllr Alexander was then eliminated in the first round of voting for a new leader, picking up just 16 votes leaving Cllr Barry Thomas facing a run off against his namesake, Tony Thomas, the leader of the council's largest group the Powys Independent Alliance (PIA).

Following his election Cllr Barry Thomas promised that he would immediately sign the paper work to dismiss Cllr Jones' 10 member cabinet, which was only appointed in December and drawn from members of the 25 strong PIA.

After the result of the paper ballot was announced the newly installed leader told the chamber: "I assure members I will work hard in this office, and I know I have a hard job to do.

"To those that didn't vote for me I will try my best to gain your confidence."

He added: "I will be completing the formal paperwork to dismiss the current cabinet straight after the meeting and my new cabinet will be in place on Wednesday (Jan 15)."

Cllr Barry Thomas had earlier told members if elected he would run a nine member cabinet, with four members serving as a 'leadership team' to mirror the council's executive director structure of senior officers. He said this team would meet the council directors in informal cabinet meetings but said he gave a 'cast iron' guarantee decisions wouldn't be made in the informal meetings, which he said would be used to discuss forthcoming cabinet agendas.

Cllr Tony Thomas had told the council he would be looking to form a 'rainbow type' coalition of any groups willing to work together.

At the start of the meeting Cllr Brown, who formed the 14 member Independent Group following the disintegration of the SIG and its minority administration, ruled himself out of standing for the leadership.

Cllr Alexander had said she would welcome challenges to her decisions if elected leader. She said: "My watchword is openness. You may think what I say is wrong but I would like you to come and tell me."