2021 Sunderland City Council election

Last updated

2021 Sunderland City Council election
Coat of arms of Sunderland City Council.png
  2019 7 May 2021 2022  

One third of 75 seats on Sunderland City Council, plus three vacancies in Copt Hill, Shiney Row, and Washington South
38 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Seats before51128
Seats won1585
Seats after421812
Seat changeDecrease2.svg9Increase2.svg6Increase2.svg4

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Party UKIP Green
Seats before01
Seats won00
Seats after30
Seat changeSteady2.svgDecrease2.svg1

Sunderland UK local election 2021 map.svg
Map showing the results of the 2021 Sunderland City Council election

Majority party before election

Labour

Majority party after election

Labour

The 2021 Sunderland City Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Sunderland City Council in England on the same day as other elections across the United Kingdom. [1]

Contents

Background

The local elections held in 2021 were originally scheduled for 7 May 2020, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and held on 6 May 2021. [2] There were 28 seats up for election: one-third of the seats on the council, plus three additional vacancies in the Copt Hill, Shiney Row, and Washington South wards.

Vacancies had arisen in the Copt Hill and Houghton Wards ahead of the local elections as the former Labour councillors, Jack Cunningham and Alex Scullion respectively, resigned from the council during 2020. [3] In Shiney Row, there was an additional vacancy due to the death in office of Labour councillor Geoff Walker in January 2021. [4] The vacancy in the Washington South ward arose with the resignation in March 2021 of the council's only sitting Green Party councillor, Dom Armstrong, following disagreements with his party about trans rights issues. [5]

There had been speculation ahead of the election that the Labour Party could lose overall control of Sunderland City Council for the first time in its history. Conservative group leader Antony Mullen said that he was 'prepared to form coalition to kick out Labour.' [6]

The Labour Party and Conservatives fielded 28 candidates in the election. The Liberal Democrats fielded 23 candidates, the Green Party 21 and UKIP 19. In addition, there was one Independent, one Populist Party and one Communist Party candidate.

Election results

After the election, the Labour Party maintained control of the council. Labour's majority was reduced to nine, having lost 9 seats. In Washington South, the Conservatives gained the seat vacated by the Green Party, but the Labour incumbent held on to the other. Labour also lost to the Conservatives in Ryhope and St Anne's - wards that had been won by UKIP in the 2019 local elections. The Conservatives made further gains from Labour in St Peter's, St Chad's and Barnes.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats gained seats with large swings from Labour in Sandhill, Pallion, Doxford and Hendon. Fulwell turned out to be a close contest between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - pushing Labour into their only third-place position in the city.

Labour leader Graeme Miller described the results as 'very disappointing', commenting that "the UKIP vote across the city moved to the Conservatives, at the same time they received a 10% bump in their vote because the public are happy with the vaccine rollout, and we’ve lost councillors as a result." [7] There were nonetheless some positives for Labour; with strong performances in some of the towns and villages outside Sunderland, winning a close contest in Silksworth, and holding all four seats in the two-up elections in Copt Hill and Shiney Row wards.

2021 Sunderland City Council election
PartyThis electionFull councilThis election
SeatsNetSeats %OtherTotalTotal %VotesVotes %+/−
  Labour 15Decrease2.svg 953.6274256.027,90439.2+6.5
  Conservative 8Increase2.svg 628.6101824.024,73534.8+16.1
  Liberal Democrats 5Increase2.svg 417.971216.010,95815.4+1.7
  UKIP 0Steady2.svg0.0334.03,1914.5-19.4
  Green 0Decrease2.svg 10.0000.03,7275.2-2.8
  Independent 0Steady2.svg0.0000.05540.8-1.1
  Populist 0Steady2.svg0.0000.0380.1-0.7
  Communist 0Steady2.svg0.0000.0320.1New

Council composition

In the last council, the composition of the council was:

5112831
LabourConservativeLib
Dem
UKIPG

After the election, the composition of the council was:

4218123
LabourConservativeLib
Dem
UKIP

Lib Dem - Liberal Democrats
G - Greens

Ward results

% Change from 2019

Barnes

Barnes [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Richard Dunn 1,610 48.3 +12.1
Labour Rebecca Atkinson1,36741.0+11.0
Liberal Democrats Tim Ellis2016.0-6.8
Green Alyson Kordbarlag1584.7-1.9
Majority7.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Castle

Castle [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Denny Wilson 1,243 58.14 +9.8
Conservative Gwennyth Gibson58327.27+16.4
UKIP Tony Clarke2019.40-31.3
Liberal Democrats Allen Curtis1115.19N/A
Majority66030.87
Labour hold Swing

Copt Hill

Copt Hill [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Kevin Johnston 1,327 46.4 +5.3
Labour Tracy Dodds 1,203 42.1 +1.0
Conservative George Brown83329.1+16.1
Conservative Jakub Wypych51918.1+5.1
UKIP Reg Coulson40314.1-21.1
UKIP John Defty38413.4-21.8
Liberal Democrats Sue Stirling2729.5N/A
Green Esme Featherstone2569.0-1.5
Liberal Democrats Anthony Usher832.9N/A
Majority
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

Doxford

Doxford [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Gibson 1,510 48.7 +6.0
Labour Thomas Johnston79725.7+2.4
Conservative John Wiper68422.1+9.5
Green Auburn Langley1103.5-1.3
Majority71323.0+3.7
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Fulwell

Fulwell [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Michael Hartnack 1,826 42.4 +11.7
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Bond1,57136.5+16.9
Labour Co-op Barry Curran73016.9-12.2
Green Liam Dufferwiel1804.2-2.3
Majority
Conservative hold Swing

Hendon

Hendon [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Ciaran Morrissey 1,029 42.2 +36.1
Labour Michael Mordey84934.8-2.3
Conservative Simon Ayre37715.5+2.8
Green Helmut Izaks1104.5-4.1
UKIP Martin Moore753.1-23.2
Majority
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Hetton

Hetton [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour James Blackburn 1,258 44.7 +11.5
Independent David Geddis55419.7-1.9
Conservative Patricia Francis54519.4+13.7
UKIP Richard Elvin31311.1-17.6
Green Rachel Lowe812.9-0.8
Liberal Democrats Ian Ellis632.2N/A
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Houghton

Houghton [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Price 1,437 48.0 +7.6
Conservative Raymond Davison95131.7+21.9
UKIP Donna Thomas30710.2-24.7
Green Billy Howells1956.5-1.5
Liberal Democrats Carlton West1063.5N/A
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Millfield

Millfield [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Niall Hodson 1,701 65.8 +5.1
Labour Iain Kay60923.6+0.4
Conservative Syed Ali1927.4+3.7
Green Gary Ogle501.9-0.7
Communist Julio Romero Johnson321.2N/A
Majority
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Pallion

Pallion [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Colin Nicholson 1,440 59.4 -4.3
Labour Abul Haque48019.8+3.1
Conservative Judith Porter41016.9+12.8
Green Danielle Chamberlain933.8+1.3
Majority
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Redhill

Redhill [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alison Smith 1,019 50.6 +13.0
Conservative Paul Burke62330.9+16.8
UKIP Sandra Hesslewood37118.4-22.6
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Ryhope

Ryhope [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Usman Ali 1,411 49.1 +33.7
Labour Ellen Ball1,23042.8+9.1
UKIP Marek Filipkowski2338.1-26.3
Majority1896.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Sandhill

Sandhill [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Edgeworth 1,274 50.8 +10.7
Labour Debra Waller81232.4+8.1
Conservative Christine Reed32012.7+7.2
UKIP Pauline Huntley662.6-25.5
Populist Tony Morrow381.5-7.9
Majority46216.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing 34

Shiney Row

Shiney Row [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Katherine Mason-Gage 1,639 50.9 +12.1
Labour David Snowdon 1,190 36.9 -1.9
Conservative Grant Shearer1,06933.2+18.0
Conservative Richard Vardy1,02631.8+16.6
Green Raymond Moore2236.9-0.3
UKIP Kay Rowham1976.1-19.8
Green Robert Welsh1765.5-1.7
Liberal Democrats Nana Boddy1705.3-0.4
Majority
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

Silksworth

Silksworth [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Pat Smith 1,120 42.6 +5.1
Conservative Jack Simm1,07340.8+21.1
Green Chris Crozier1806.8-2.8
Liberal Democrats Sharon Boddy1365.2N/A
UKIP Ian Walton1234.7-23.4
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Southwick

Southwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Kelly Chequer 1,208 50.8 +11.5
Conservative Liam Ritchie75431.7+18.2
UKIP Stephen Harrison1717.2-14.9
Liberal Democrats Norman Dent1385.8+0.6
Green Morgan Seed1054.4-1.3
Majority19.1
Labour hold Swing

St Anne's

St Anne's [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Greg Peacock 911 42.0 +25.3
Labour Susan Watson90841.9+9.1
UKIP Bryan Foster1908.8-25.8
Liberal Democrats Peter Walton1587.3-1.7
Majority3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

St Chad's

St Chad's [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Chris Burnicle 1,647 59.9 +20.2
Labour Darryl Dixon89532.5+4.6
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Crosby2087.6+3.6
Majority
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

St Michael's

St Michael's [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Lyall Reed 1,958 57.1 +6.4
Labour Chris Smith90226.3+5.2
Green John Appleton45513.3+3.0
Liberal Democrats Colin Wilson1173.4-2.1
Majority1,056
Conservative hold Swing

St Peter's

St Peter's [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Sam Johnston 1,808 53.8 +18.9
Labour David Newey1,05631.4+5.2
Green Rachel Featherstone2166.4-3.5
Liberal Democrats John Lennox1835.4-5.1
UKIP Ian Lines952.8-15.4
Majority
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Washington Central

Washington Central [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Dianne Snowdon 1,611 55.1 +13.8
Conservative Michael Winter91531.3+13.1
Green Scott Burrows2117.2-2.1
UKIP Tony Ormond1073.7-21.7
Liberal Democrats Sean Terry822.8-3.1
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Washington East

Washington East [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Sean Laws 1,558 47.9 +10.3
Conservative Hilary Johnson1,40343.1+19.1
Green Michal Chantkowski1935.9-6.1
UKIP Stephen Cuthbert983.0-16.4
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Washington North

Washington North [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Michael Walker 1,216 52.8 +10.1
Conservative Derek Dunn73031.7+19.5
Green Graeme Edminson1486.4-5.3
Liberal Democrats Jaye Jordan1195.2+1.6
UKIP Maureen Hibbert893.9-25.9
Majority
Labour hold Swing

Washington South

Washington South [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Paul Donaghy 1,186 40.4 +21.1
Labour Louise Farthing 1,171 39.9 +15.2
Labour Brandon Feeley93131.7+7.0
Conservative Craig Morrison80127.3+8.0
Green Michael Ellis52117.8-7.0
Green Richard Bradley41814.2-10.6
Liberal Democrats Steven Donkin2408.2-3.9
UKIP Josh Green883.0-15.7
Majority
Conservative gain from Green Swing
Labour hold Swing

*Cllr Paul Donaghy defected to Reform UK on January 16, 2023. [9]

Washington West

Washington West [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jimmy Warne 1,462 52.0 +9.4
Conservative Olwyn Bird91632.6+17.4
Green Paul Leonard2428.6-5.4
Liberal Democrats Andrew Bex1294.6-0.4
UKIP Bill Little642.3-21.0
Majority
Labour hold Swing

By-elections

Hetton

Hetton: 30 September 2021
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iain Scott 661 31.6 -13.1
Liberal Democrats John Lennox63430.3+28.1
Independent David Geddis38618.5-1.2
Conservative Adelle Burnicle30314.5-4.9
Independent Maurice Allen673.2N/A
Green Justine Merton-Scott412.0-0.9
Majority271.3
Turnout 2,09222.5
Labour hold Swing Decrease2.svg20.6

Redhill

Redhill: 3 March 2022
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Usher 709 50.2 Decrease2.svg 0.4
Liberal Democrats Steve Donkin38627.3Increase2.svg 27.3 New
Conservative Sue Leishman19613.9Decrease2.svg 17.0
UKIP Ian Lines856.0Decrease2.svg 12.4
Green Helmut Izaks352.5New
Labour gain from UKIP Swing Decrease2.svg 13.9

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References

  1. "Notice of Election - Local Government Elections" (PDF). Sunderland.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  2. "English local elections postponed over coronavirus". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. "Casual Vacancies". 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  4. Finnegan, Sophie (3 February 2021). "Tributes paid to Sunderland councillor Geoffrey Walker after shock death". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  5. Binding, Chris (11 March 2021). "Sunderland Green councillor resigns after clashing with national party over trans and women's issues". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  6. Harrison, James (1 April 2021). "Sunderland Conservatives 'prepared to form coalition to kick out Labour'". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  7. Harrison, James (7 May 2021). "Labour laments 'very disappointing' night in Sunderland, while opposition parties celebrate victories". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Local Government Election - List of candidates - Thursday 6 May 2021" (PDF). Sunderland.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  9. @reformuksun (16 January 2023). "Today @reformparty_uk welcomes onboard Cllr Paul Donaghy as not only a member, but our first councillor within the City of Sunderland. Welcome aboard Cllr Donaghy, we look forward to working with you #ReformUK" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 June 2023 via Twitter.