Sunderland Council election, 2011
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Sunderland Council election took place on 5 May 2011 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...

     56
  • 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...

     14
  • 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 Labour ran the council with 52 seats, compared to 18 Conservatives
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 4 independents
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...

, with 1 of the 4 independents being described as an "Independent Conservative". 26 seats were being contested in the election with 2 seats being available in Sandhill 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:...

, after 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:...

 Jim Scott stood down from the council.

Labour were hopeful of making gains due to a backlash against the national Conservative led government and rising 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 hoped the national 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...

 freeze and pension increases would help the party do well and blamed the previous Labour government for the economic situation. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats said they would focus on local issues and targeted Millfield ward.

Other candidates included 7 from the 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 3 from the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

. However the 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...

 did not put up any candidates, after contesting every seat in some previous elections.

Election result

The results saw Labour increase their majority on the council after gaining 4 seats from the Conservatives to have 56 councillors. The gains came in the wards of St Chad's, St Peter's, 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...

 East and Washington South and left the Conservatives with 14 seats. The Liberal Democrats had a bad election, coming fourth in many seats, after a drop in their share of the vote. Meanwhile independent Colin Wakefield held his seat in Copt Hill by 428 votes over Labour. Neither the Green Party or the United Kingdom Independence Party won any seats, but the Greens came third in 6 of the 7 seats they had contested and the United Kingdom Independence Party came second in Hetton
Hetton-le-Hole
Hetton-le-Hole is a town and civil parish situated in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the A182 between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane. It is located on the southwest corner of Sunderland on the A182, off A690 close to the A1. It has a population of 14,402 but this...

. 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...

 in the election was 35.1%.

Sunderland kept up it's position as a quick counter of results, with the first result in Pallion
Pallion
Pallion is a suburb, civil parish and electoral ward of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Most of the buildings in the area were built during the Victorian Era and consist of large terraced houses built for wealthy shipbuilders, but also smaller one storey cottages in other areas...

being declared at 10.53pm, after the polls had closed at 10pm. The council was also the first to finish counting with the final results being declared at 1am. The Labour leader of the council Paul Watson held the seat in Pallion and put Labour's success down to the cuts being made by the national government and as an endorsement of the city council. The Conservative group leader Paul Morrissey meanwhile said his party had suffered due to being in government nationally.

Ward results

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