The village of Rickleton, near Sunderland, is a scene of quiet suburban bliss on a warm April morning. But the sound from the cricket field of leather on willow has been disturbed by frantic electioneering before a vote that could spell danger for the Labour leader, Keir Starmer.
Labour has ruled Sunderland with an iron grip for decades but the recent political upheaval has left it clinging to power. The party has a majority of only six councillors, meaning it could lose overall control of the council next month for the first time since it was founded in 1974.
