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The 2007 Sunderland Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.
Contents
After the election, the composition of the council was
Background
Before the election the council had 57 Labour, 13 Conservative, 4 independent and 1 Liberal Democrat councillors. 25 seats were being contested with a total of 111 candidates standing. These included a full 25 each from the Labour, Conservative and British National Party, as well as 16 independents, 15 Liberal Democrats, 2 Respect, 2 British First Party and 1 from the United Kingdom Independence Party.
As at the 2006 election this election saw Sunderland have three polling stations open for 10 days before election day in an attempt to make voting more convenient for voters.
Election result
The results had Labour stay in control of the council but with a smaller majority. The Conservatives gained 3 seats from Labour in St Chads, Washington East and Washington South to hold 16 seats compared to 54 for Labour. The 2 Conservative gains in Washington were the first time the party had won seats in the town since it became part of Sunderland council. Labour also lost one seat to an independent in Copt Hill, but regained another in Doxford where the sitting independent councillor, Mike Tansey, had originally been elected for the Labour party. This meant there remained 4 independents on the council, as well as 1 Liberal Democrat who was not defending a seat in the election. Overall turnout in the election was 34%, up on 32% at the 2006 election.