Tributes to Sunderland councillors standing down at elections in May 2024

Tributes have been paid to two members of Sunderland City Council with a collective service of almost 30 years as they prepare to step down.

Labour’s councillor Pat Smith, who has represented the Silksworth ward since first being elected in May 1999, is the longest-serving of the two.

Meanwhile, praise was also given to the work of independent Pallion ward councillor Colin Nicholson, with both members not seeking re-election when their current terms come to an end in May.

Tributes were paid to both at the last authority-wide meeting of Sunderland City Council of the municipal year which took place last month.

Mayor councillor Dorothy Trueman began the well-wishes by honouring Cllr Smith, who served as a member of the authority’s leading cabinet, holding various portfolios for education and children’s services, from 2002 until 2016.

She added Cllr Smith had a “keen interest in children’s services, learning and skills” and was “actively involved in the council’s scrutiny function”.

The outgoing Silksworth councillor also “served on many committees and outside bodies too numerous to mention”, and was chair of the children, education and skills scrutiny committee from 2016 to 2023.

Councillor Graeme Miller, council leader, said he has known Cllr Smith for 18 years, since he was first elected to the local authority, and said she was “very helpful” and will “be sadly missed”.

The Labour councillor added: “I think a lot of people will miss Pat’s warmth and ability, she’s a very good ear, and she gives good advice.”

Meanwhile, councillor Claire Rowntree, deputy council leader, added that Cllr Smith has been “a source of wisdom, knowledge, humour and advice” for her.

She continued: “I’m still yet to come across anyone who holds quite the command and respect that Cllr Smith does from across the chamber and otherwise.”

Labour’s councillor Phil Tye, Silksworth ward colleague of Cllr Smith, praised the experience she passed on to new councillors and thanked her for “everything she’s done”.

He said: “She is sincere through and through, as we all know, there is never ever a hidden agenda, she’ll tell you how it is, as it should be, but she does that with the ultimate respect and she has to be absolutely commended for that.”

Cllr Smith said it has been a “pleasure” to serve on the local authority and thanked councillors.

She added: “I’d like to thank all the councillors, both past and present, all the officers, past and present, the partners, the voluntary sector in Sunderland that help this council.

“I’d also like to thank the residents that have put me here and the Labour Party that put me here.”

She concluded her speech by asking councillors to make sure they “take care and look after” Derwent Hill, an outdoor education and training centre located in the Lake District and owned by Sunderland City Council since 1962.

Tributes were also paid to Cllr Nicholson at the meeting, who was elected to the council in May 2021 and served the Pallion ward, first as a Liberal Democrat until August 2023, and then as an independent.

The meeting heard Cllr Nicholson has served on numerous committees during his time on the council, including planning and highways and audit and governance.

Labour’s councillor Allen Curtis, Doxford ward representative, said Cllr Nicholson was “one of the leading councillors who set up the negotiations and talks with Crown Works” for the film and TV studios development in Pallion.

Cllr Curtis added: “He is a brilliant gentleman and scholar, he’s always thought very highly of everyone in this chamber, it doesn’t matter what side of the chamber you sit on, and he does not dislike anyone.”

Councillor Antony Mullen, Conservative group leader on the council, also paid tribute to both of the departing councillors, wishing them both well and adding that they will be missed.