Sunderland City Council

History

The town of Sunderland was an ancient borough, having been given its first charter (as 'Wearmouth') in 1179. A subsequent charter of 1634 incorporated the town under the name of Sunderland, which had become the more commonly used name.

Sunderland was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Sunderland", generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Sunderland was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Durham County Council. The borough boundaries were enlarged on several occasions.

In 1974 the county borough was replaced by a larger metropolitan borough within the new county of Tyne and Wear. From 1974 until 1986 the borough council was a lower-tier district authority, with Tyne and Wear County Council providing county-level services. The county council was abolished in 1986, since when the borough council has again provided both district-level and county-level services, as it had done when it was a county borough prior to 1974. Some functions are provided across Tyne and Wear by joint committees with the other districts. The borough was awarded city status in 1992, allowing the council to change its name to Sunderland City Council.

Governance

Since 1986 the council has provided both district-level and county-level functions, with some services being provided through joint arrangements with the other Tyne and Wear councils. In 2024 a combined authority was established covering Sunderland, County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland and South Tyneside, called the North East Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.

There are civil parishes at Hetton, Burdon and Warden Law, of which only Hetton has a parish council. Parish councils form an additional tier of local government for their areas. Apart from the aforementioned areas, the rest of the borough is unparished. The ward boundaries of Hetton Town Council have also been modified. This comes as part of the larger review of Sunderland ward boundaries for the 2026 council election.

Political composition

The council has been under Labour majority control since the reforms of 1974. While Labour's majority on the council has been consistent from its creation, the opposition party had traditionally been the Conservative Party before they fell behind the Liberal Democrats at recent elections.

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Sunderland is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader of the metropolitan borough council, Charles Slater, had been the last leader of the old Sunderland Town Council. The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, subsequent changes of allegiance and by-elections up to November 2025, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in May 2026, coinciding with other local elections across England. With the currently proposed boundary changes, it is unclear whether the 2026 election will follow usual election procedures or be a contest of all seats on the council.

Elections

Since the last changes to ward boundaries in 2004, the council has comprised 75 councillors, representing 25 wards, with each ward electing and being represented by three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. New ward boundaries are being drawn up with the aim that they will be ready for the 2026 elections.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England had been tasked with updating the boundaries of the wards, with 24 out of 25 wards having their boundaries changed in the review. Parliament approved the changes in March 2025 with the new boundaries applying to elections from May 2025.

• A. Barnes
• B. Castle
• C. Copt Hill
• D. Doxford
• E. Fulwell
• F. Hendon
• G. Hetton
• H. Houghton
• J. Millfield
• K. Pallion
• L. Redhill
• M. Ryhope
• N. St Anne's
• O. St Chad's
• P. St Michael's
• Q. St Peter's
• R. Sandhill
• S. Shiney Row
• T. Silksworth
• U. Southwick
• V. Washington Central
• W. Washington East
• X. Washington North
• Y. Washington South
• Z. Washington West

Councillors

Sunderland's 25 Council wards are each represented by three elected councillors, with one seat in each ward being contested at each local election.

Premises

The council is based at City Hall on Plater Way, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 2021. The new City Hall is located on the former premises of Vaux Breweries. The building is part of the larger development project on the Vaux Site and the regeneration project of Riverside Sunderland. The building was designed by FaulknerBrowns and constructed by Bowmer and Kirkland. City Hall is also used for community events and meetings in addition to being the base of council operations. The building has an area of 17,480 m².

Prior to the construction of the new City Hall, the council was based at the Civic Centre on Burdon Road, which had been built in 1970. The Civic Centre was demolished in 2022 and a new housing estate has been constructed in its place.

The Civic Centre in turn had replaced the old borough council's headquarters at the Town Hall on Fawcett Street which itself had been built in 1890 and was demolished shortly after the council moved to the Civic Centre.

References

References

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