2022 Sunderland City Council election - Wikipedia

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2022 Sunderland City Council election

← 2021 5 May 2022 2023 →
One third of 75 seats on Sunderland City Council, except Copt Hill 38 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Graeme Miller Niall Hodson Antony Mullen Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative Leader's seat Washington South Millfield Barnes Seats before 43 12 19 Seats won 16 5 4 Seats after 42 14 18 Seat change 1 2 1 Popular vote 30,687 10,355 20,986 Swing 5.4% 0.1% 3.9%
Map showing the results of the 2022 Sunderland City Council election, including Copt Hill
Majority party before election Labour Majority party after election Labour

The 2022 Sunderland City Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Sunderland City Council. This is on the same day as other elections across the United Kingdom.

24 of the 75 seats will be up for election^[1] All 25 wards were originally due to elect councillors, however the election in Copt Hill ward was postponed following the death of the city's only UKIP candidate.^[2]

Since the first election in 1973, Sunderland has been a strongly Labour council, which consistently achieves over 60% control of the council.^[3] 2021 represented the worst year for Labour in terms of seats; the party lost 9 with 39.2% of the vote.^[4] The Conservatives gained 6 with 34.8%, the Liberal Democrats gained 4 with 15.4%, UKIP did not make any further gains with 4.5%, and the Green Party lost representation on the council with 5.2%.

There had been speculation ahead of the election that the Labour Party could lose overall control of Sunderland City Council for the first time in its history.

The seats up for election this year were last elected in 2018. In that election, Labour won 61 seats (a net loss of 4 seats). The Conservatives gained 2 seats while the Liberal Democrats gained 3 seats on the Council. 1 independent councillor lost their seat.

After the election, the Labour Party maintained control of the Council. Labour's majority was reduced to 4, having lost 1 seat to the Liberal Democrats in Doxford Ward. In Fulwell, the Conservatives also lost a seat to the Liberal Democrats with a swing of 15%^[5]

The results defied media speculation that Labour would continue to haemorrhage seats like in 2021 and 2019. Labour leader Graeme Miller commented that "It was a good night" for his party because they "stopped the rot". Conservative Group leader Anthony Mullen, blamed his party's poor performance on the Partygate Scandal, after the Conservatives failed to gain seats in Washington South, Rhyope, St Anne's or Silksworth. Liberal Democrat leader Niall Hodson said his party's gains from both Labour and the Conservatives were a result of “good candidates working hard for a long period of time”.^[6]

2022 Sunderland City Council election
Party	This election	Full council	This election
Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	16	1	62.5	26	42	54.7	29,718	44.6	+5.4
	Conservative	4	1	16.7	14	18	24.0	20,602	30.9	-3.9
	Liberal Democrats	5	2	20.8	9	14	18.7	10,294	15.5	+0.1
	Independent	0		0	1	1	1.3	1,437	2.2	+1.4
	Green	0		0	0	0	0	4,410	6.6	+1.4
	Freedom Alliance	0		0	0	0	0	120	0.2	+0.2
	Communist	0		0	0	0	0	30	<0.1	-0.1
	UKIP	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	-4.5

In the last council, the composition of the council was:

↓

43	19	12	1
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	INDY

After the election, the composition of the council was:

↓

42	18	14	1
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	INDY

An asterisk indicates an incumbent councillor.

Note: This ward election took place on Thursday 16 June 2022. Copt Hill ward election was rescheduled due to the death of UKIP candidate Reg Coulson. ^[9]