2010 Sunderland City Council election

The 2010 Sunderland Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1] The election took place on the same day as the 2010 General Election.

2010 Sunderland City Council election
6 May 2010
One third of 75 seats on Sunderland City Council
38 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Independent
Seats before 48 21 5
Seats won 22 3 0
Seats after 52 18 4
Seat change Increase4 Decrease3 Decrease1
  Fourth party
 
Party Liberal Democrats
Seats before 1
Seats won 0
Seats after 1
Seat change Steady0
Map of the 2010 Sunderland City Council election results. Labour in red and Conservatives in blue.
Majority party before election

Labour

 Majority party after election

Labour

Campaign

Before the election Sunderland council had 48 Labour, 21 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat and 5 Independent councillors.[2] The Independents were made up of 4 in an alliance and 1, Eddie Wake, described as an "Independent Conservative" having been suspended from the Conservative Party in the period since the last local elections in May 2008.[3]

In total 89 candidates stood for the 25 seats being contested, with a full 25 from the Labour Party, 23 Conservatives, 23 Liberal Democrats, 12 British National Party, 2 Green Party and 4 Independents.[2] This was a substantial decline in candidates for the British National Party, which in previous years had contested every ward.[2] The 2 seats not contested by the Conservative party in Copt Hill and Houghton were where Independent candidates had been successful in previous years, with the Conservative party leader on the council Lee Martin saying the party would not have been able to win the seats.[2] The seats were again contested by Independents campaigning against the Houghton Quarry landfill site.[2]

Labour were confident of making gains, pointing to the lowest council tax in the North East and efforts to improve schools and address unemployment.[2] However the Conservatives were also looking to make gains and particularly targeted seats they had previously won in Doxford, Ryhope and Washington South.[2]

Election results

The results saw the Labour party increase their majority on the council after gaining 4 seats to hold 52 of the 75 seats.[4] Labour held every seat they had been defending, while gaining seats from the Conservatives in Barnes, St Peter's and Washington East, and taking Millfield from an Independent, Peter Maddison.[5] Peter Maddison, who was deputy leader of the Independent group, came last in Millfield with 133 votes and independents also failed to take Copt Hill and Houghton.[6] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats failed to win any seats, but did see an increase in votes for the party.[6] Overall turnout was 55.02%, compared to 34.9% at the 2008 election, with the highest turnout in Fulwell at 68%.[7]

The Conservative leader on the council Lee Martin put his parties failure down to a higher turnout due to the election taking place at the same time as the general election and a higher than usual vote share for the Liberal Democrats.[5] Following the election Lee Martin resigned as leader of the Conservative group and was succeeded by Tony Morrissey.[8]

Sunderland Local Election Result 2010[9][10]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 22 4 0 Increase4 88 49.0 57,058 Increase9.4%
  Conservative 3 0 3 Decrease3 12 25.2 29,358 Decrease6.8%
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0 Steady0 0 18.3 21,290 Increase6.7%
  Independent 0 0 1 Decrease1 0 4 4,621 Decrease2.4%
  BNP 0 0 0 Steady0 0 3.3 3,886 Decrease6.9%
  Green 0 0 0 Steady0 0 0.3 325 Increase0.3%

This resulted in the following composition of the Council:[10]

Party Previous Council New Council
Labour 48 52
Conservatives 21 18
Independent 5 4
Liberal Democrats 1 1
Total 75 75
Working majority  21   29 

Ward by ward results

Barnes ward
Barnes[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Essl 2,280 41.2 +16.8
Conservative Angela Barkess 1,991 36.0 -15.6
Liberal Democrats Gouilnara Dixon 1,001 18.1 +3.4
BNP Ethan Maggiore 265 4.8 -4.5
Majority 289 5.2
Turnout 5,537 62.6 +24.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Castle ward
Castle[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Doris MacKnight 2,173 51.3 -1.5
Independent Tony Clarke 774 18.3 +8.2
Liberal Democrats Jon Dewart 505 11.9 +4.9
Conservative Geoffrey Scott 449 10.6 -2.6
BNP Ian McDonald 338 8.0 -5.4
Majority 1,399 33.0 -6.4
Turnout 4,239 50.0 +19.5
Labour hold Swing

Copt Hill ward
Copt Hill[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Heron 2,174 45.0 +10.5
Independent Paul Marriner 1,971 40.8 -4.8
Liberal Democrats Louise Powell 687 14.2 +14.2
Majority 203 4.2
Turnout 4,832 55.2 +18.5
Labour hold Swing

Doxford ward
Doxford[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Betty Gibson 2,463 52.0 +17.0
Conservative John Wiper 1,411 29.8 -11.8
Liberal Democrats David Sullivan 867 18.3 +5.2
Majority 1,052 22.2
Turnout 4,741 60.7 +25.0
Labour hold Swing

Fulwell ward
Fulwell[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Howe 2,797 45.2 -8.0
Labour Barry Curran 2,208 35.7 +9.5
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Pryke 1,186 19.2 +7.5
Majority 589 9.5 -17.4
Turnout 6,191 68.4 +24.9
Conservative hold Swing

Hendon ward
Hendon[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Barbara McClennan 1,976 52.7 +16.3
Conservative Sammy Doran 994 26.5 +5.0
Liberal Democrats Nathan Hazlett 779 20.8 +11.7
Majority 982 26.2 +13.0
Turnout 3,749 44.7 +15.2
Labour hold Swing

Hetton ward
Hetton[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Tate 2,465 56.1 -13.1
Liberal Democrats Philip Dowell 966 22.0 +22.0
Conservative Paula Wilkinson 575 13.1 -17.7
BNP John Richardson 389 8.9 +8.9
Majority 1,499 34.1 -4.3
Turnout 4,395 50.4 +19.8
Labour hold Swing

Houghton ward
Houghton[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dennis Richardson 2,290 47.1 +10.1
Independent John Ellis 1,743 35.9 -8.9
Liberal Democrats David Snowball 824 17.0 +17.0
Majority 547 11.3
Turnout 4,857 54.7 +18.9
Labour hold Swing

Millfield ward
Millfield[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Iain Kay 1,363 38.6 +14.3
Liberal Democrats Jim Major 1,241 35.1 -10.9
Conservative Vijaya Das 580 16.4 +1.4
BNP Edward McFarlane 217 6.1 -1.7
Independent Peter Maddison† 133 3.8 +0.1
Majority 122 3.5
Turnout 3,534 48.0 +15.7
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

†Peter Maddison had been elected in 2006 as a Liberal Democrat candidate, but subsequently left the party to sit as an Independent councillor. As such, this win for Labour was technically a gain from the Liberal Democrats.

Pallion ward
Pallion[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Cecilia Gofton 1,866 51.4 +7.1
Conservative Peter O'Connor 739 20.3 -6.8
Liberal Democrats Amanda Robinson 709 19.5 +6.7
BNP Lynne Hudson 318 8.8 -7.0
Majority 1,127 31.0 +13.8
Turnout 3,632 48.7 +17.1
Labour hold Swing

Redhill ward
Redhill[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Stewart 2,669 69.5 +20.0
Conservative Martin Anderson 684 17.8 +7.3
BNP Terence Woolford 490 12.8 -6.7
Majority 1,985 51.7 +21.6
Turnout 3,843 45.2 +14.2
Labour hold Swing

Ryhope ward
Ryhope[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Emerson 2,904 62.7 +30.0
Conservative Shaun Cudworth 1,727 37.3 +3.6
Majority 1,177 25.4
Turnout 4,631 58.1 +21.8
Labour hold Swing

Sandhill ward
Sandhill[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Allan 2,197 57.6 +10.6
Conservative Paul Tweddle 842 22.1 -3.9
Liberal Democrats Robert Peel 778 20.4 +7.5
Majority 1,355 35.5 +14.5
Turnout 3,817 46.5 +15.8
Labour hold Swing

Shiney Row ward
Shiney Row[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mel Speding 2,974 54.3 +5.9
Conservative Malcolm Vardy 1,420 25.9 -1.8
Liberal Democrats Carol Attewell 1,083 19.8 +6.7
Majority 1,554 28.4 +7.7
Turnout 5,477 56.1 +22.7
Labour hold Swing

Silksworth ward
Silksworth[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Philip Tye 2,740 57.7 +8.4
Conservative Dominic McDonough 1,126 23.7 -4.7
Liberal Democrats Andy Bex 881 18.6 +9.6
Majority 1,614 34.0 +13.1
Turnout 4,747 56.7 +20.0
Labour hold Swing

Southwick ward
Southwick[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norma Wright 2,145 54.1 +10.6
Conservative Terry Docherty 858 21.6 -4.9
Liberal Democrats Anne Griffin 615 15.5 +5.6
BNP John McCaffrey 350 8.8 -11.2
Majority 1,287 32.4 +15.4
Turnout 3,968 48.7 +16.0
Labour hold Swing

St Anne's ward
St Annes[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Wright 2,263 58.8 +13.5
Liberal Democrats Simon Dawes 781 20.3 +4.9
Conservative Neil Robinson 656 17.0 -5.0
Green Emily Blyth 151 3.9 +3.9
Majority 1,482 38.5 +15.2
Turnout 3,851 46.3 +16.8
Labour hold Swing

St Chad's ward
St Chads[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Oliver 2,165 47.2 -3.1
Labour Darryl Dixon 1,848 40.3 +3.8
Liberal Democrats Sus Wilson 572 12.5 +6.9
Majority 317 6.9 -6.9
Turnout 4,585 58.9 +17.2
Conservative hold Swing

St Michael's ward
St Michaels[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Maddison 2,328 42.4 -17.8
Labour Juliana Heron 1,773 32.3 +8.9
Liberal Democrats Paul Edgeworth 1,013 18.4 +8.3
BNP Paul Anderson 206 3.7 -2.7
Green John Lowther 174 3.2 +3.2
Majority 555 10.1 -26.6
Turnout 5,494 64.2 +23.4
Conservative hold Swing

St Peter's ward
St Peters[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Bonallie 1,917 37.2 +10.5
Conservative Shirley Leadbitter 1,843 35.8 -12.0
Liberal Democrats Diana Matthew 1,038 20.1 +6.0
BNP Derek Wright 357 6.9 -4.5
Majority 74 1.4
Turnout 5,155 60.4 +22.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Washington Central ward
Washington Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Linda Williams 2,799 53.1 +12.8
Conservative Tina Richardson 1,256 23.8 -2.4
Liberal Democrats John Mclelland 1,220 23.1 -0.2
Majority 1,543 29.3 +15.2
Turnout 5,275 60.2 +23.9
Labour hold Swing

Washington East ward
Washington East[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Neville Padgett 2,378 45.0 +4.7
Conservative Hilary Johnson 1,681 31.8 -11.4
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Bannister 990 18.7 +6.2
BNP Linda Birtwell 240 4.5 +0.4
Majority 697 13.2
Turnout 5,289 60.7 +23.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Washington North ward
Washington North[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jill Fletcher 2,537 57.2 +4.2
Liberal Democrats Steve Thomas 875 19.7 +6.7
Conservative Tracy Young 624 14.1 -8.1
BNP James Reed 396 8.9 -2.8
Majority 1,662 37.5 +6.7
Turnout 4,432 51.2 +18.9
Labour hold Swing

Washington South ward
Washington South[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Graeme Miller 2,062 41.4 +3.8
Conservative Joyce Wake 1,586 31.8 -10.7
Liberal Democrats David Griffin 1,333 26.8 +14.3
Majority 476 9.6
Turnout 4,981 60.7 +23.2
Labour hold Swing

Washington West ward
Washington West[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dorothy Trueman 2,594 49.4 +3.3
Liberal Democrats Irene Bannister 1,316 25.0 +7.2
Conservative Olwyn Bird 1,026 19.5 -5.8
BNP Rian Birtwell 320 6.1 -4.7
Majority 1,278 24.3 +3.5
Turnout 5,256 58.4 +24.5
Labour hold Swing

References
  1. "Sunderland". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  2. Robertson, Ross (9 April 2010). "Battle begins for your vote". Sunderland Echo.
  3. "Rape joke councillor suspended". Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  4. Hunt, Amy (8 May 2010). "Labour victorious in local elections". The Journal. p. 9.
  5. "Good night for Labour in local elections". Sunderland Echo. 7 May 2010.
  6. "Bad night for independents in council elections". Sunderland Echo. 7 May 2010.
  7. "All the results from Tyneside and Wearside's local councils". Evening Chronicle. 8 May 2010. p. 2.
  8. "City Tories name new leader". Sunderland Echo. 18 May 2010.
  9. "Results of Poll". Sunderland City Council. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  10. "Local elections 2010". guardian.co.uk. London. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
Preceded by
2008 Sunderland City Council election		 Sunderland City Council elections Succeeded by
2011 Sunderland City Council election
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