RECAP: How Sunderland City Council elections 2022 unfolded - council leader keeps seat and Labour clings to power, while Lib Dems make gains
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This is how events unfolded.
LIVE: Sunderland City Council elections 2022
Key Events
- All results are now in for Sunderland
- Council leader Graeme Miller keeps his seat despite strong campaign from opposition
- Former deputy council leader Michael Mordey regains seat after being voted out in 2021
- Labour has also kept power despite efforts by opposition parties to push it into overall control
- The Lib Dems have claimed seats from both Labour and Tories
Miller time
Council Graeme Miller had faced efforts to unseat him in his own ward, and a strong campaign to push the council into “no overall control”.
However, he and Labour held on.
Tories ‘threw kitchen sink’ at Sunderland
The Conservatives “threw the kitchen sink” at Sunderland City Council, and still did not manage to gain it from Labour, a Labour MP has said.
Speaking after Labour retained control of the council, Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq told Sky News: “I am delighted to see the Sunderland result, mostly because speaking to MPs who are connected to Sunderland from the Labour Party … and local activists, the Conservatives have thrown the kitchen sink at it.
“I mean, the Prime Minister was there. When you are in Government you only send the Prime Minister to seats that you think you can overturn and change. So the Prime Minister was there on Bank Holiday Monday and we still held it.”
Boris Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak both visited Sunderland on the campaign trail.