2012 Sunderland City Council election

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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 56 15 3 Seats won 22 2 2 Seats after 64 8 3 Seat change 8 7 0   Fourth party   Party Liberal Democrats Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seats after 0 Seat change 1
Map of the 2012 Sunderland City Council election results. Labour in red, Independents in grey and Conservatives in blue.
Majority party before election Labour Majority party after election Labour

The 2012 Sunderland Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Sunderland City Council in England. It was held on the same day as other 2012 United Kingdom local elections.^[1]

Election results

Following the election, the Labour Party remained in control of the council with its majority increased by eight. Labour took seats from the Conservatives in Washington East, Washington South, St Peter's, St Chad's, Ryhope, Doxford and Barnes. The Liberal Democrats also lost out to Labour in Millfield.

The Conservatives held two wards – Fulwell and St Michael's. Independents in Copt Hill and Houghton also held their seats.

Sunderland Local Election Result 2012^[2]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	22	8	0	8	88	61.3	43,485	1.6%
	Conservative	2	0	7	7	8	19.4	14,783	6.4
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	1	1	0	5.6	3,958	0.2%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	5	3,548	3%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	8	4.8	3,376	0.1%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.3	1,620	0.1%
	National Front	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	122	0.2%

This resulted in the following composition of the council:

Ward by ward results

An asterisk denotes an incumbent.

Barnes ward

Barnes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rebecca Atkinson	2,041	55.5	31.1
	Conservative	Anthony Morrissey*	1,486	40.4	11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Gouilnara Dixon	150	4.1	10.7
Majority			555	15.1	12.1
Turnout			3,692	40.8	2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	21.2

Castle ward

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denny Wilson	1,978	86.1	33.3
	Conservative	Paula Wilkinson	215	9.4	3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Hillman	104	4.5	2.5
Majority			1,763	76.8	37.4
Turnout			2,319	26.7	3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	18.6

Copt Hill ward

Copt Hill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Derrick Smith*	1,679	55.2	9.6
	Labour	Ann Owen	1,250	41.1	6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Sterling	111	3.7	3.7
Majority			429	14.1	2.9
Turnout			3,052	33.6	3.2
	Independent hold		Swing	11.7†

†Swing to the Independent candidate from the Conservatives, who had stood last time this seat was contested.

Doxford ward

Doxford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Marshall	1,863	67.1	32.1
	Conservative	Richard Vardy*	590	21.3	20.3
	Green	Caroline Robinson	246	8.9	8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Matt MacDonald	76	2.7	10.4
Majority			1,273	45.9	39.3
Turnout			2,789	35.1	0.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	26.2

Fulwell ward

Fulwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Francis*	1,758	48.1	5
	Labour	Margaret Beck	1,657	45.4	19.1
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Pryke	238	6.5	5.2
Majority			101	2.8	24.1
Turnout			3,670	40	3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.1

Hendon ward

Hendon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Michael Mordey*	1,518	66.6	30.2
	Conservative	Debbie Lorraine	360	15.8	5.8
	UKIP	Pauline Featonby-Warren	244	10.7	10.7
	Green	Samuel May	159	7	7
Majority			1,158	50.8	37.6
Turnout			2,297	25.6	3.9
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	17.9

Hetton ward

Hetton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Blackburn*	1,628	51.8	17.4
	UKIP	John Defty	1,363	43.3	43.3
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Dowell	154	4.9	4.9
Majority			265	8.4	30
Turnout			3,166	35.1	4.5
	Labour hold		Swing	30.4

Houghton ward

Houghton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sheila Ellis*	1,697	51.9	7.1
	Labour	Gemma Taylor	1,496	45.8	8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Louise Smith	74	2.3	2.3
Majority			201	6.2	1.6
Turnout			3,278	35.8	0
	Independent hold		Swing	9.2†

†Swing to the Independent candidate from the Conservatives, who had stood last time this seat was contested.

Millfield ward

Millfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Bob Price	1,058	45.5	21.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Dixon*	888	38.2	7.9
	Conservative	Keith O'Brien	164	7.1	8
	National Front	Paul Birleson	122	5.3	5.3
	Green	Helmut Izaks	94	4	4
Majority			170	7.3	14.5
Turnout			2,339	28.8	3.5
	Labour Co-op gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	14.6

Pallion ward

Pallion

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Amy Wilson*	1,541	66.7	22.4
	Conservative	Peter O'Connor	365	15.8	11.3
	Green	David Campbell	304	13.2	13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sylvia Doward	101	4.4	8.4
Majority			1,176	50.9	33.7
Turnout			2,321	30.4	1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	16.9

Redhill ward

Redhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronny Davison	1,887	78.6	29.1
	UKIP	Lynn Kelly	388	16.2	16.2
	Conservative	Gwennyth Gibson	125	5.2	5.3
Majority			1,499	62.46	32.4
Turnout			2,415	28	3
	Labour hold		Swing	24.3†

†Swing to Labour from the BNP, who had stood last time this seat was contested.

Ryhope ward

Ryhope

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Anthony Farr	1,887	72.8	40.1
	Conservative	Shaun Cudworth	706	27.2	6.5
Majority			1,181	45.6	44.6
Turnout			2,620	31.9	5.4
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	23.3

St Anne's ward

St Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Watson*	1,743	72.1	26.7
	Conservative	Norman Oliver	339	14	8
	Green	Emily Blyth	268	11.1	11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kathy Walker	69	2.9	12.6
Majority			1,404	58	34.7
Turnout			2,426	28	1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	17.4

St Chad's ward

St Chad's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Darryl Dixon	1,755	55.3	18.8
	Conservative	Alan Wright*	1,312	41.4	8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Wilson	105	3.3	2.3
Majority			443	14	0.2
Turnout			3,188	40	1.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	13.9

St Michael's ward

St Michael's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Forbes*	1,649	51.3	8.9
	Labour	Chris Johnson	1,161	36.1	12.7
	Green	Rachel Featherstone	265	8.2	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Wood	140	4.4	5.7
Majority			488	15.2	21.5
Turnout			3,242	35.4	5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.8

St Peter's ward

St Peter's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Jackson	1,595	52.5	25.7
	Conservative	Graham Hall	1,221	40.2	7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Henry	224	7.4	6.7
Majority			374	12.3	8.7
Turnout			3,065	35.2	2.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	16.7

Sandhill ward

Sandhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Debra Waller	1,830	90.4	43.4
	Labour	Mary Turton	1,424	70.4	23.3
	Conservative	Paul Tweddle	459	22.7	3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Usher	335	16.6	3.7
Majority			965	47.7	26.7
Turnout			2,035	23.8	6.9
	Labour hold		Swing	40
	Labour hold		Swing	19.9

There was a double vacancy in Sandhill ward in 2012, due to the retirement of Labour councillor Jim Scott, and the death of Labour councillor John Gallagher.^[3] Two seats were up for election, and each voter could cast two votes.

Shiney Row ward

Shiney Row

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Hall*	2,286	73.6	25.1
	Conservative	Malcolm Vardy	635	20.4	7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Attewell	187	6	7.1
Majority			1,651	53.1	32.4
Turnout			3,129	30.8	2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	16.2

Silksworth ward

Silksworth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patricia Smith*	1,960	67.2	18
	Conservative	Dominic McDonough	451	15.5	12.9
	UKIP	Derek Horsley	376	12.9	12.9
	Green	Joella Lynch	128	4.4	4.4
Majority			1,509	51.8	30.9
Turnout			2,919	34.3	2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	15.5

Southwick ward

Southwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosalind Copeland*	1,582	66.4	22.9
	Conservative	Terence Docherty	394	16.5	10
	UKIP	Michael Leadbitter	325	13.6	13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Hollern	81	3.4	3.4
Majority			1,188	49.9	32.9
Turnout			2,394	28.6	4.1
	Labour hold		Swing	16.5

Washington Central ward

Washington Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dianne Snowdon*	1,999	65.7	25.5
	UKIP	Erland Polden	536	17.6	17.6
	Conservative	Pat Francis	327	10.8	15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Ashford	179	5.9	17.4
Majority			1,463	48.1	34
Turnout			3,058	33.9	2.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	20.5

Washington East ward

Washington East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Snowdon	1,721	56.5	16.2
	Conservative	Hilary Johnson	735	24.1	19.1
	UKIP	Linda Hudson	316	10.4	10.4
	Green	Tony Murphy	156	5.1	5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Bannister	119	3.9	8.6
Majority			986	32.4	29.5
Turnout			3,055	34.6	2.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	17.7

Washington North ward

Washington North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kelly*	2,047	80.1	27
	Conservative	Kathleen Irvine	349	13.7	8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Morris	160	6.3	6.7
Majority			1,698	66.4	35.6
Turnout			2,577	29	3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	17.8

Washington South ward

Washington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Louise Farthing	1,802	65.1	27.5
	Conservative	Martin Talbot	757	27.4	15.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Griffin	209	7.6	5
Majority			1,045	37.8	32.9
Turnout			2,797	33.9	3.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	21.4

Washington West ward

Washington West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bernard Scaplehorn*	2,200	77.5	31.4
	Conservative	Olwyn Bird	386	13.6	11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Bannister	254	8.9	8.9
Majority			1,814	63.9	43.1
Turnout			2,869	31.5	2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	21.6