Labour maintained its grip on Sunderland City Council as the Liberal Democrats celebrated gains on Wearside.
The Labour Party has been steadily losing seats in the historically red authority over recent years, shedding a total of nine seats in 2021 and 10 in 2019. The 2022 local elections saw that trend slow significantly, with Labour handing over only one seat, Doxford, to the Liberal Democrats.
It was a good result for Labour as they held on to overall power, now controlling 41 of the authority's 75 seats. And there was plenty to celebrate for the Liberal Democrats, who picked up the only two gains of the night, also taking Fulwell from the Conservatives.
Read more: Full results for every ward that held a vote on Sunderland City Council
Sunderland's Labour council leader Graeme Miller retained his Washington South ward, which had been heavily targeted by Conservative opponents. At the end of the night he said he had won despite "the best the Conservative Party could throw at me" and said his party were now in a "better place".
He told ChronicleLive: "It's the wheel turning, we are now in the position of Labour coming back. People are beginning to realise that in Sunderland we are listening to them, we are asking what they want done and we are delivering."
Nationally, he said the current cost of living crisis was seeing voters turn against the ruling Conservatives, and said Keir Starmer represented a 'really good leader' offering a 'strong' alternative to Boris Johnson.
"I think that next year we will be in an even better position," he added.
It was a night of celebration for Sunderland's Liberal Democrats, as they picked up a seat from both parties. The Local Lib Dem leader Niall Hodson said their gains were driven by strong local campaigns, and showed they could win against both major parties.
He said: "We're making strong progress, we are not going to turn over this council overnight, but when we win seats we keep holding them. We've not only won two seats, we've held three.
"Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, they are really affected by the national situation, what's going on in Parliament really impacts them, it's not like that for us."
In the lead-up to the vote Sunderland Conservative leader Antony Mullen had hit headlines with his prediction s that his opponents might lose their grip on the authority, surrendering overall control.
He said: "It's not what we predicted but it's still a stalemate between us and the Labour Party... In the seats which they won by a close margin we would have crossed the line if it was not for the national picture - and there's always next year."
The turnout on Wearside was 33.6%.
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