2026 Sunderland City Council election

Before the election Labour was the largest party with Liberal Democrats forming the official opposition after overtaking the Conservatives at the 2023 and 2024 elections.^[3] Since the last election two councillors defected from both Labour and the Conservatives to sit as Independents.^[4][5]

In November 2025 Reform UK won their first seat on the council with a 35% swing in the Hetton ward by-election, however their councillor resigned from the party after just 76 days and now sits as an independent.^[6] There is speculation that Reform will take control of the council like it had the year before in County Durham.^[7]

In March 2026, Fiona Miller a Labour councillor first elected in 2011 defected to the Green Party. Her husband Gramme Miller was council leader for Labour between 2018 and 2024 before he was removed by Labour's National Executive Committee.^[8]

An asterisk next to a candidate's name denotes an incumbent councillor. Each ward will elect three candidates, the candidate with the highest number of votes will receive a four year term until 2020, the candidate with the second highest number of votes will receive a two year term until May 2028, and the candidate with the third highest number of votes will receive a one year term until May 2027.^[9]

Barnes and Thornhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Syed Mahfuz Ahmed
	Labour Co-op	Caroline Comer
	Liberal Democrats	Kai Lamont Crawford
	Conservative	Benjamin William Davies-Scott
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Ellis-Dale
	Labour Co-op	Ehthesham Haque*
	Green	Alyson Kordbarlag
	Conservative	Kevin Leonard
	Reform	Victor John Skinner
	Reform	Robert Snowdon
	Green	Jake Taylor
	Labour Co-op	Fiona Katharine Tobin*
	Green	Mark Dominic Tyers
	Conservative	Nathan Williamson
	Reform	Lynn Wynn
Majority
Turnout

Deptford and Hendon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Anderew Wilson
	Reform	Lynda Andrews
	Reform	David Barker
	Labour Co-op	Syeda Shilpe Chowdhury
	Conservative	James Ebere
	Labour Co-op	Stephen Lewis Elms*
	Conservative	Gideon Oseremen Eriaye
	Liberal Democrats	Francesca Hodson
	Green	Helmut Izaks
	Reform	Marie Mccarthy
	Green	Raymond John Moore
	Labour Co-op	Myles Alfie Mordey
	Liberal Democrats	Ciaran Morrissey
	Green	Liam Murphy
	Conservative	Steven Porter
Majority
Turnout

Doxford Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Aiston
	Reform	Lynda Alexander
	Labour	Jean Barley
	Green	Keith Brown
	Labour	Allen Curtis*
	Green	Lily Daniels
	Reform	Alan Emery
	Liberal Democrats	Heather Fagan*
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Gibson*
	Green	Haley
	Conservative	Helen Maddison
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Peacock
	Reform	Bryn Thomas
	Conservative	Ehis Uwaifo
	Labour	Duncan Wood
Majority
Turnout

Farringdon and Silksworth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joesph Austin
	Green	Scott Burrows
	Conservative	Kevin de Roche
	Reform	Ian Drury
	Reform	Helen Greener
	Green	Billy Howells
	Reform	Robert Hutchinson
	Liberal Democrats	Jess Jenkins
	Labour	Joanne Laverick*
	Labour	Lauren Laws
	Conservative	Deborah Mullen
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Smith
	Green	Heidi Tolson
	Labour	Phil Tye*
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Mary Wood
Majority
Turnout

Fulwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nichola Austin-Ratcliffe
	Labour	Peter Barley
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Bond*
	Green	Sebastian Graca de Silva
	Conservative	Michael Hartnack*
	Green	Genevieve Johnson
	Labour	Malcolm Kilner
	Labour	Naomi Mather
	Reform	David Owen
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Pickering
	Green	Brian Plemper
	Conservative	Bill Smith
	Reform	Phillip Thompson
	Reform	Janet Tyson
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Walton*
Majority
Turnout

Grangetown

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hardip Baras
	Reform	Daniel Cowie
	Conservative	Michael Dixon*
	Green	Layla-Jayne Laidler
	Liberal Democrats	Marjorie Ledger
	Conservative	Alison Mason
	Labour	Ray Matthews
	Labour	Michael Mordey*
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Morrison
	Green	Serena Rush
	Labour	Lynda Scanlan*
	Liberal Democrats	Audrey Smith
	Green	Grace Weir
	Reform	Colin Wright
	Reform	Mark Wynn
Majority
Turnout

Grindon and Thorney Close

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denis Carroll
	Liberal Democrats	Meg Crosby*
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Edgeworth*
	Reform	Michael Gutowski
	Labour	Keith Lakeman
	Reform	Steven Mustard
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen O'Brien*
	Conservative	Paula Reed
	Conservative	Alex Sinclair
	Reform	Mark Starling
	Conservative	John Wiper
	Labour	Ellie Young
Majority
Turnout

Herrington and Newbottle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Bruce Allcroft
	Reform	Bill Blackett
	Green	Donna Brown
	Conservative	Chris Burnicle
	Green	Hayley Campbell
	Liberal Democrats	Michelle Hardie
	Labour	Paul Jorgenson
	Green	Joella Lynch
	Conservative	Dominic McDonough
	Labour	Martin Old
	Conservative	Robert Oliver
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Marshall
	Labour	Maureen Richardson
	Reform	Jeffrey Shaw
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Waine
Majority
Turnout

Hetton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Blackburn
	Labour	George Callaghan
	Conservative	Trevor Colgin
	Reform	Alan Davies
	Green	Christopher Donaldson
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Ellis
	Liberal Democrats	Kath Gaffney
	Liberal Democrats	Gwynneth Gibson
	Reform	Jason Lloyd
	Green	Rachel Lowe
	Conservative	Henry Ndubuisi
	Reform	Steven Paterson
	Labour	Christopher Tobin
	Green	Ynez Tulsen
Majority
Turnout

Houghton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Felicity Louise Brand
	Labour	Claire Danielle Bryant
	Labour	Mark Burrell*
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Hardie
	Reform	Sandra Louisa Hobson-Tate
	Green	Steph Langford
	Reform	Joseph Francomb Parkin
	Conservative	Michaela Rhiannon Peacock
	Labour	John Price*
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Render
	Conservative	Mark John Reynoldson
	Green	Pauline Robson
	Conservative	Christel Rose
	Reform	Donna Sarah Thomas
	Green	Kirsty Elizabeth Younger
Majority
Turnout

Houghton South and Hetton Downs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Emma Jane Baker
	Liberal Democrats	Mia Coupland
	Labour	Tracy Dodds*
	Reform	Jonathon Robert Emerson
	Reform	Heather Finlay
	Liberal Democrats	Jan Foster
	Green	Harrison Hopps
	Labour	Kevin Johnston*
	Conservative	Mickey Mikhimade Olowoko
	Reform	Michael Quigley
	Green	Andrew Robertson
	Conservative	Harry Levi Jordan Brandon Shovlin
	Conservative	Connor Sinclair
	Labour	Melanie Thornton*
Majority
Turnout

Hylton Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison Chisnall
	Liberal Democrats	William Douglas
	Conservative	Les Dunn
	Labour	Stephen Foster
	Reform	Glen Gibbons
	Conservative	Dorothy Hartnack
	Reform	Ian Jones
	Reform	David Laing
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Smith
	Liberal Democrats	Miriam Townsend
	Labour	Denny Wilson
	Conservative	Denise Worthy
Majority
Turnout

Pallion and Ford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kenny Amadasun
	Conservative	Phil Avery
	Green	Naomi Browne
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Donkin*
	Conservative	Bob Francis
	Green	Rebecca Grant
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Haswell*
	Reform	Raymond Lathan
	Green	Jamie Lee
	Reform	Emma Margetson
	Independent	Karen Noble
	Reform	David Parr
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Potts*
	Labour	Angela Smith
	Labour	George Smith*
	Conservative	Joy Tennant
Majority
Turnout

Pennywell and South Hylton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	Carol Giles
	Reform	Russell Giles
	Reform	Julia Ann Irwing
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Penshaw and Shiney Row

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative	Shaun Cudworth
	Conservative	Gregory Weggy
	Conservative	Jake Walker
	Reform	Abby Purcell
	Reform	Carole Allcroft
	Reform	Axel Tye
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Redhouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	Shaun Conley
	Reform	Chris Eynon
	Reform	Ciera Hudspith
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Roker

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Kirsty Alder
	Conservative	Sean Chapman
	Labour	Bev Grainger
	Labour	Matthew Jackson
	Liberal Democrats	Craig King
	Liberal Democrats	John Lennox
	Green	Justine Merton-Scott
	Labour	Tom Newton
	Conservative	David Ogundipe
	Conservative	Emma Porter
	Reform	Andrew Ramsey
	Green	Helen Schell
	Liberal Democrats	Miguel Smith
	Reform	Thomas Steele
Majority
Turnout

Ryhope

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	James Jackson
	Reform	Sharon Surtees
	Reform	Pamela Taylor
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Southwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	John Appleton
	Labour	Michael Butler*
	Labour	Zoe Chandler
	Labour	Kelly Chequer*
	Independent	Rosalind Copeland
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Doughty
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Hardie
	Green	Paul Jacques
	Reform	Michael Leadbitter
	Green	Rafal Marzec
	Reform	Jannine Morrow
	Conservative	Jon Reed
	Reform	Jamie Scott
	Conservative	Sheila Smith
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Wood
	Conservative	Kath Worthy
Majority
Turnout

Tunstall and Humbledon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lennon Airey
	Labour	Charlie Bell
	Green	Richard Bradley
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Dawes
	Green	Dale Gillett
	Conservative	Adele Graham-King
	Reform	Glenda Hall
	Labour	Zareen Haque
	Conservative	Antony Mullen
	Liberal Democrats	Robbie Potts
	Conservative	Lyall Jonathan Reed
	Green	Dan Sullivan
	Reform	Richard Vardy
	Reform	David 'Taff' Wales
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Wood
Majority
Turnout

Washington Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Armstrong
	Green	Mishka Belik
	Reform	Janis Berzemnieks
	Green	Michael Colling
	Liberal Democrats	Joshua Hall
	Liberal Democrats	Kelsey Hall
	Conservative	Audrey Jaitay
	Reform	Saleem Memon
	Conservative	Valerie Moore
	Conservative	Mary Ogundipe
	Reform	Joseph Phillips
	Green	Ashley Smith
	Labour	Dianne Snowdon*
	Labour	Harry Trueman*
	Labour	Linda Williams*
Majority
Turnout

Washington East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	Ian Hembrough
	Reform	Emily Lopez
	Reform	Tony Ormond
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Washington North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	Elizabeth Brown
	Reform	Paul Donaghy
	Reform	Jason King
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Washington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative	Gabriel Green
	Conservative	Thomas Such
	Reform	Robert Pattison
	Reform	Elouise Redmayne
	Reform	John Watson
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout

Washington West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour
	Conservative
	Reform	Neil Moffitt
	Reform	Adrian Pickering
	Reform	Lee Redmayne
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout