Reform UK celebrates Sunderland by-election win as locals need 'someone there to fight their corner'

Councillor Ian McKinley secured victory in the Hetton ward poll on Thursday (November 27) with 1,270 votes, while independent candidate David Geddis was second with 689.

Labour representative Lauren Laws finished in third with 611 votes followed by Liberal Democrat Mia Coupland with 113 and Conservative Adam Aiston with 61.

It marks the first time a Reform UK candidate has been directly elected onto Sunderland City Council and gives the party one seat out of 75 on the local authority.

Previously Paul Donaghy represented Reform UK on the city council in the Washington South ward but only after defecting to the party following his election as a Conservative, and he ultimately lost his seat in the 2024 local polls.

The Hetton by-election had been triggered following the death of serving Labour ward councillor and former deputy council leader Claire Rowntree.

Speaking after his election success, Cllr McKinley thanked residents who “came out and voted in such high numbers” and said his victory was a “team effort” where “everybody clubbed together.”

He said: “It’s great to give something back because they’ve put their faith in me with those votes, it was great to see all those sheets coming through with a cross next to my name, it was very overwhelming in some ways.

“I retired seven years ago, I was a teacher, I was enjoying retirement, but I didn’t like what was happening with the country.

“I think the residents have been waiting for somebody that they can trust and that came across on the doorstep, when we were talking to people that’s what they wanted.

“There is big job to be done now and going into the council is something I am looking forward to, getting involved and getting to understand the processes that go through there and seeing how I can make a difference.”

Cllr McKinley explained his priorities will be ensuring “community spirit” and that residents in his ward get answers on queries and issues they raise with the local authority.

He continued: “It’s very divided at the moment, I think the Coalfields have got a great spirit inside, they are people that you’re not going to knock the pride out of.

“But they have been knocked down, and I think now they need a bright light to look forward to, somebody there to fight their corner and start getting things done.

“We need people to have their say, whatever they want to say, whatever opinions they’ve got, we need to discuss it, we don’t want anybody being shut out and not having a say, and Reform is all about that.

“It’s all about you can have a difference of opinion, but let’s talk about it and let’s not get angry with each other.”

Cllr McKinley added next year’s all-out Sunderland City Council election is “the big one” for Reform UK in the area and they have a “massive team” who are already concentrating on trying to deliver more success.

He said: “We’ve got a huge number of members, so there’s lots of candidates waiting to come forward and to be chosen to do exactly what I’ve done here, it’s just prepping everybody.

“This has been a great learning curve for everybody, including myself, it’s the first time for me to go through this process.

“It’s been very reassuring from the public, it’s been a really nice reaction on the doors, the smiles, the relief that they’ve got somebody else there, because they’ve given up hope.”

The city council ward has previously consistently voted to elect Labour representatives in recent rounds of local elections.

Cllr McKinley joins Labour representatives James Blackburn and Iain Scott to make up the three city councillors for the Hetton ward.

The total turnout in the by-election was 29.3% with 2,746 votes cast out of a total electorate of 9,362.