Sunderland Council election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Sunderland Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Sunderland
City of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...

 Metropolitan Borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

 Council in Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 party stayed in overall control of the council.

After the election, the composition of the council was
  • Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

     52
  • Conservative
    Conservative Party (UK)
    The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

     18
  • Independent
    Independent (politician)
    In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

     4
  • Liberal Democrat 1

Campaign

Before the election Sunderland council had 48 Labour, 21 Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, 1 Liberal Democrat and 5 independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

s, with the independents being made up of 4 in an alliance and 1 described as an "Independent Conservative". 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
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

, 2 Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

 and 4 independents. This was a substantial decline in candidates for the British National Party, which in previous years had contested every ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

. The 2 seats not contested by the Conservative party in Copt Hill and Houghton
Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring is part of the City of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England that has its recorded origins in Norman times. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles to the south-west and the centre of the City of Sunderland about 6...

 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. The seats were again contested by independents campaigning against the Houghton Quarry landfill site.

Labour were confident of making gains, pointing to the lowest council tax
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...

 in the North East
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

 and efforts to improve schools and address unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

. However the Conservatives were also looking to make gains and particularly targeted seats they had previously won in Doxford
Doxford Park
Doxford Park is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, located to the south-west of the city centre.Doxford Park is also the name of a wooded area of land located within the suburb....

, Ryhope
Ryhope
Ryhope is a coastal village along the southern boundary of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. With a population of approximately 14,000, Ryhope is 2.9 miles to the centre of Sunderland, 2.8 miles to the centre of Seaham, and 1 .2 miles from the main A19.The older village...

 and Washington
Washington, Tyne and Wear
Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...

 South.

Election result

The results saw the Labour party increase their majority on the council after gaining 4 seats to hold 52 of the 75 seats. 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. Peter Maddison, who was deputy leader of the independent group, came last in Maddison with 133 votes and independents also failed to take Copt Hill and Houghton. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats failed to win any seats, but did see an increase in votes for the party. Overall turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 55.02%, compared to 34.9% at the 2008 election
Sunderland Council election, 2008
The 2008 Sunderland Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England...

, with the highest turnout in Fulwell at 68%.

The Conservative leader on the council Lee Martin put his parties failure down to a higher turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 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. Following the election Lee Martin resigned as leader of the Conservative group and was succeeded by Tony Morrissey.

Ward results

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