Sunderland City Council local elections 2023: The key battles, seats to watch and everything else you need to know

Polling stations open at 7am on Thursday, May 4, with more than 100 candidates standing to either contest or defend council seats across the city.

Sunderland City Council elects its councillors by ‘thirds’, with one seat in each of the local authority’s 25 wards up for grabs this year.

However only 24 seats will be declared this week, with the Hendon ward contest rearranged to a later date following the death of candidate Syed Ali.

Polls for the May 4 elections will close at 10pm on Thursday, with results coming through in the early hours of Friday morning.

Due to new legislation voters are now required to bring photo identification into polling stations, with eligible ID listed on the Electoral Commission’s website: www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Here is a guide to what Sunderland City Council looks like currently and what could happen next.

Current council make-up

In recent years Labour has lost large numbers of seats locally, including losing around 10 councillors in 2019 and nine in 2021, but last year’s elections saw the trend slow significantly, with the ruling party only losing one seat.

Sunderland City Council is currently made up of 43 Labour councillors, 15 Conservative councillors, 14 Liberal Democrats, two independents and one Reform UK member.

The new make-up follows a number of high-profile defections from the Sunderland Conservatives earlier this year.

This included Conservative Washington South councillor Paul Donaghy joining Reform UK in January and Conservative Ryhope councillor Usman Ali joining Labour in March.

Conservative councillor for Barnes, Helen Greener, also defected to become an independent in January but is not planning on standing for re-election this year.

Seats up for election

Of the 24 seats up for election this week, 13 are held by Labour with several sitting councillors defending seats and new candidates standing in some wards following the retirement of veteran councillors.

Sunderland Conservatives are looking to maintain control of seats in Barnes, Fulwell, St Anne’s, St Chad’s, St Michael’s and St Peter’s while targeting other seats across the city.

Meanwhile, the Wearside Liberal Democrats are defending seats in Doxford, Millfield, Pallion and Sandhill and also hope to boost their numbers.

The Green Party, which currently has no representatives on the city council, has stood candidates in every ward this year.

Elsewhere, the emergence of Reform UK on Wearside is expected to have an impact on the share of votes across the city, especially in marginal wards.

The political party, which was founded as the Brexit Party and later rebranded as Reform UK, is standing 24 candidates across the city.

Independent candidates will also be standing in Copt Hill, Hetton, Houghton and Shiney Row, as well as a candidate from the Communist Party of Britain in Millfield and Official Monster Raving Loony Party in Fulwell.

The seats to watch

It is expected that the Labour Party will maintain control of the council this year, with the Liberal Democrats hoping to overtake the Conservatives as the main opposition party.

Some key contests this year could see opposition parties displace each other, or Labour gaining a foothold in previously opposition-controlled wards.

In Fulwell ward the Sunderland Conservatives will be looking to defend a seat formerly held by deputy group leader councillor James Doyle.

However the Liberal Democrats, who won in Fulwell ward last year with a 939-vote majority over the Conservatives, are hoping to repeat this success.

The Labour Party will also be looking to defend the Washington South ward following the retirement of long-standing councillor and cabinet member Louise Farthing.

While Washington is mainly occupied by Labour councillors, the Sunderland Conservatives made a gain in 2021 with the election of Cllr Paul Donaghy.

Following Cllr Donaghy’s defection from the party, the ward is set to be a key battleground between Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Reform UK.

Another seat to watch is Ryhope, where independent councillor Steven Bewick is not seeking re-election this year.

The Labour Party currently controls two of the three seats in the ward after winning a seat in the 2022 elections and the defection of Conservative Cllr Usman Ali to Labour the following year.

As Labour only won its 2022 seat with a slim 28-vote majority over the Conservatives, the fight for Ryhope is looking to be a tight contest this year with five candidates in the running.

Sunderland’s St Anne’s ward is also a seat to watch, with one of its two Conservative-controlled seats being contested.

The Sunderland Conservatives last victory in the ward was in 2021, with a majority of just three votes over Labour, and Sunderland Labour went on to win in the ward the following year.

Councillor Pam Mann, who was elected as a UKIP councillor in 2019 before defecting to the Conservatives in 2021, is looking to defend her seat this year.

St Anne’s is the only ward in the city where Reform UK have not stood a candidate, leaving a four-way contest between Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and the Green Party.

What happens next

Sunderland City Council will hold its annual general meeting later this month, where it will be confirmed who takes up key roles on the council, including leader, deputy leader, and Mayor of Sunderland.

For a party to have an overall majority, they must hold at least 38 of the 75 seats, which means if one group does not have this after the elections, it could open the door for talks over potential coalitions or minority administrations.

The rearranged poll for Hendon ward is due to take place after the May 4 elections, with a date set to be announced by the council.

To find out more about the candidates standing in your ward on May 4, 2023, click on the relevant link below:

Barnes

Castle

Copt Hill

Doxford

Fulwell

Hetton

Houghton

Millfield

Pallion

Redhill

Ryhope

Sandhill

Shiney Row

Silksworth

Southwick

St Anne’s

St Chad’s

St Michael’s

St Peter’s

Washington Central

Washington East

Washington North

Washington South

Washington West