Voters are going to the polls in Tyne and Wear on Thursday in 2023’s local elections.
Dozens of council seats across the region are up for grabs in what promises to be an intriguing day. All five of the Tyne and Wear councils have elections this year, with a third of the local authority seats being contested in each of Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, and South Tyneside.
Northumberland and County Durham hold ‘all out’ local elections once every four years and are next due to do so in 2025, so have no elections on May 4 – aside from a by-election in Chester-le-Street. Not all councils will be counting and announcing their results at the same time, so we’ve put together a guide of when to expect declarations in your area.
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Newcastle City Council
As per usual, the count in Newcastle is held at Northumbria University’s Sport Central building. The first ballot boxes arrive at the city centre location roughly 10 minutes after the polls close at 10pm.
Expect the first results to start filtering in around 11.30pm, with declarations made for all 26 of the city’s wards by 1.30am – barring any recounts.
The race between Newcastle and Sunderland to declare first has been a feature of election nights in the North East over recent years, but has taken a back seat with Covid safety measures being the main concern at local election counts for the last couple of years. By the time the next general election comes around, though, expect the eyes of the nation to be back on the region’s rapid counters again.
Sunderland City Council
Sunderland’s count is also being held on Thursday night, with votes being tallied at the Silksworth Community Pool, Tennis and Wellness Centre. All results should be declared by the early hours of Friday.
South Tyneside Council
The third of the Tyne and Wear councils to be staging their count in the traditional overnight slot is South Tyneside. Their count is happening at the Temple Park leisure centre, with the first declaration due at 12.15am and a full council declaration pencilled in for 1am.
Gateshead Council
This is where things get a bit different. Gateshead is one of two of our councils holding their count on Friday morning, the day after ballots are cast.
The count for the Gateshead Council local elections, will be held in the sports hall at Gateshead International Stadium, beginning at around 10am and due to finish around 1pm.
North Tyneside Council
North Tyneside has made the switch to a Friday morning count this year too. Counting at the Parks Leisure Centre in North Shields will start at 10am on May 5, with a first declaration due at 11am and all results in by 1pm.
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