Labour once again won a majority at this year's local elections in South Tyneside, but lost three seats to the Green Party.
The results were finalised at the Temple Park Centre in South Shields just before 1am on Friday morning, with the final result declared from Cleadon Park after a recount. Ballot boxes started to arrive shortly after the 10pm voting deadline, with the first result to come in Whiteleas ward, where Labour's Ernest Gibson held onto his seat.
Gains by the Green Party in Biddick and All Saints, Cleadon and East Boldon, and West Park mean that it is now the main opposition, with exactly one sixth of the council's seats (nine). Two of the three gains were in wards where Labour councillors had stood down, Councillor Joan Atkinson in Cleadon and East Boldon, and Joe Amar in Biddick and All Saints, who announced he would be standing down before his sad death earlier this month.
