2004 Sunderland City Council election

The 2004 Sunderland City Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Sunderland City Council Council in Tyne and Wear, England. The whole council was up for election following boundary changes since the last election in 2003.[1] The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.[2]

2004 Sunderland City Council election
10 June 2004
All 75 seats on Sunderland City Council
38 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Seats before 63 9 1
Seats won 61 12 2
Seats after 61 12 2
Seat change Decrease2 Increase3 Increase1
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Independent Liberal
Seats before 1 1
Seats won 0 0
Seats after 0 0
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease1
Map of the 2004 Sunderland City Council election results. Labour in red, Conservatives in blue, and Liberal Democrats in yellow.
Majority party before election

Labour

 Majority party after election

Labour

Campaign

Every seat was contested in the election for the first time since 1982.[3] Labour held a big majority before the election with 63 seats, but almost a quarter of Labour's councillors stood down at the election.[3] Labour was the only party to field a full 75 candidates, while the next largest number of candidates was from the Conservative party who fielded 54 candidates.[3] Candidates in the election also included 25 from the British National Party after the party failed to win any seats in the 2003 election but came second in 6 wards.[4]

Labour described their record in control of the council as being positive and that they were making progress, but the Conservatives described Labour as being "arrogant and remote".[3] The Conservatives targeted wards in the town of Washington as well as Millfield, St Chad's and St Peters, while Barnes ward was seen as being a three-way battle between Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.[5]

At the election count anti-Nazi demonstrators had a scuffle with British National Party supporters when the candidates entered the building, with one British National Party candidate being arrested on suspicion of assault.[6][7]

Election result

The results saw Labour hold control of the council with a large majority, but the Conservatives made some gains in Barnes, Fulwell and St Michael's.[6] This meant Labour ended with 61 seats, while the Conservatives were up three on 12 seats.[8] The Liberal Democrats took two seats, while the British National Party failed to win any seats.[8] Overall turnout was 40.26%, down on the 47.47% in 2003 but up on the 22% at the 2002 election before all postal voting was used.[6][8]

Sunderland Local Election Result 2004[9][10]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 61 1 3 Decrease2 81.3 55.4 103,550 Increase2.9
  Conservative 12 3 0 Increase3 16.0 28.9 54,119 Increase6.6
  Liberal Democrats 2 2 0 Increase1 2.7 8.0 14,886 Decrease0.7
  BNP 0 0 0 Steady0 0 6.6 12,398 Decrease7.2
  Independent 0 0 1 Decrease1 0 0.9 1,638 Decrease1.8
  Liberal 0 0 1 Decrease1 0 0.2 429 Increase0.2

This resulted in the following composition of the council:

Party Previous council New council
Labour 63 61
Conservatives 9 12
Liberal Democrats 1 2
Liberal 1 0
Independent 1 0
Total 75 75
Working majority  51   47 

Ward by ward results
Barnes (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Daughton 1,557
Conservative Lee Martin 1,495
Conservative Michael Arnott 1,427
Liberal Democrats Mark Greenfield 1,296
Labour Ian Galbraith 1,171
Liberal Democrats Emma Pryke 1,016
Labour Anne Morrison 1,011
Labour Iain Key 938
Liberal Democrats Peter Taylor 884
BNP Paul Humble 427
Turnout 11,222 48.5
Castle (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Foster 1,655
Labour Leslie Mann 1,543
Labour Robert Symonds 1,449
BNP Ian McDonald 687
Conservative Gillian Connor 513
Conservative Alice Mclaren 443
Turnout 6,290 36.3
Copt Hill (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Carthy 1,805
Labour Juliana Heron 1,642
Labour Robert Heron 1,551
Conservative Jane Wilson 1,161
BNP Anthony James 508
Turnout 6,667 37.2
Doxford (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Blyth 1,543
Labour Michael Tansey 1,494
Labour Elizabeth Gibson 1,463
Conservative Peter Elliot-West 918
Conservative George Brown 909
Conservative Stephen Sinclair 843
BNP Debra Hiles 496
Turnout 7,666 38.9
Fulwell (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Norman Bohill 2,978
Conservative John Walton 2,394
Conservative George Howe 2,263
Labour Rosalind Copeland 884
Labour Norman Dent 864
Labour Gordon Higgins 819
Liberal Democrats Bill Ryder 665
BNP Joseph Dobbie 417
Turnout 11,284 51.7
Hendon (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Brynley Sidaway 1,142
Labour Thomas Martin 1,123
Labour Mary Smith 1,015
Conservative Janice Morrissey 647
Conservative John Cowley 627
Liberal Democrats Jane Walters 578
Conservative Malcolm Vickers 507
BNP David Guynan 504
Liberal Democrats Tafazzal Hussain 456
Liberal Winifred Lundgren 429
Turnout 7,028 36.0
Hetton (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Blackburn 1,670
Labour Florence Anderson 1,663
Labour Richard Tate 1,413
Liberal Democrats Philip Dowell 920
Conservative Christopher Galley 676
BNP John Richardson 442
Turnout 6,784 37.2
Houghton (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Lawson 2,054
Labour Kathryn Rolph 1,944
Labour Dennis Richardson 1,864
Conservative William Lewis 783
BNP Louise Smith 518
Turnout 7,163 38.3
Millfield (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats James Hollern 893
Labour Colin Anderson 846
Labour Keith Adshead 824
Labour Louise Farthing 728
Liberal Democrats John Jackson 629
Conservative Michael Dixon 579
Conservative Patricia Francis 570
Liberal Democrats Sham Vedhara 557
Conservative Gordon Newton 530
BNP Jason Dent 360
Turnout 6,516 35.9
Pallion (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Amy Wilson 1,350
Labour Paul Watson 1,333
Labour Robert Kirby 1,148
Conservative Gwennyth Gibson 802
Conservative Dorreen Storey 754
BNP James Davison 647
Turnout 6,034 36.0
Redhill (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bryan Charlton 1,804
Labour Richard Bell 1,594
Labour Paul Stewart 1,521
BNP Ian Leadbitter 716
Conservative Terence Docherty 499
Conservative James McIntosh 441
Turnout 6,575 36.5
Ryhope (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ronald Bainbridge 1,433
Labour Aileen Handy 1,268
Labour David Wares 1,218
Conservative Audrey Casson 859
BNP William Brown 585
Conservative Tariq Al-Dulaymi 549
Turnout 5,912 37.6
Sandhill (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Scott 1,515
Labour David Forbes 1,411
Labour David Allan 1,238
Conservative Ronald Drayton 894
BNP Christopher Lathan 530
Turnout 5,588 36.7
Shiney Row (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Anne Hall 1,817
Labour John Scott 1,491
Labour Melville Speding 1,417
Liberal Democrats Neil Grundy 994
Liberal Democrats Paul Forster 846
Conservative Douglas Middlemiss 664
Conservative Kathleen Cowe 582
BNP Sharon Leadbitter 423
Turnout 8,234 38.8
Silksworth (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patricia Smith 1,811
Labour Peter Gibson 1,773
Labour John Donnelly 1,578
Conservative Dionne Ross 941
Conservative Norman Rosemurgey 922
BNP Joseph Dobbie 647
Turnout 7,672 43.2
Southwick (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Higgins 1,680
Labour Maureen Ambrose 1,398
Labour Norma Wright 1,344
Conservative John Brown 762
Conservative John Calvert 701
BNP Alan Brettwood 698
Turnout 6,583 37.8
St Annes (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Susan Watson 1,300
Labour Patricia Bates 1,252
Labour Thomas Wright 1,189
Conservative Marjorie Matthews 593
Conservative Norman Oliver 508
BNP Treena Smith 490
Turnout 5,332 35.1
St Chads (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Leslie Scott 1,762
Labour John Porthouse 1,466
Conservative Robert Oliver 1,341
Conservative Paula Wilkinson 1,323
Labour Cecilia Gofton 1,240
Conservative Anthony Morrissey 1,145
BNP Carol Dobbie 430
Turnout 8,707 46.4
St Michaels (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Forbes 2,072
Conservative Peter Wood 1,997
Conservative Paul Maddison 1,918
Labour Garry Dent 1,045
Labour Barbara McClennan 861
Labour Phillip Gibson 821
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Pryke 656
BNP Pauline Smith 302
Turnout 9,672 48.3
St Peters (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lilian Walton 1,679
Conservative Graham Hall 1,609
Labour Christine Shattock 1,414
Conservative Alistair Newton 1,336
Labour Linda Mitchell 1,261
Labour David Errington 1,069
BNP Derek Wright 604
Turnout 8,972 45.2
Washington Central (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Derek Sleightholme 1,880
Labour Eric Timmins 1,725
Labour Denis Whalen 1,621
Liberal Democrats Christine Griffin 860
Conservative Jacqueline Atkinson 797
Conservative Olwyn Bird 777
Conservative Kathleen Irvine 635
BNP Andrew Galloway 400
Turnout 8,695 40.2
Washington East (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Young 1,445
Labour Bryan Williams 1,360
Labour Neil Macknight 1,284
Conservative Kathryn Chamberlin 882
Liberal Democrats Avril Grundy 821
Conservative Ian Cuthbert 727
Conservative David Wilson 657
BNP Duncan Matthews 322
Turnout 7,498 37.0
Washington North (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Walker 1,876
Labour Peter Walker 1,500
Labour Pamela Baggaley 1,478
Independent John Bedlington 969
Conservative Russell Bloxsom 589
BNP Richard Templton 431
Turnout 6,843 36.6
Washington South (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Linda Williams 1,135
Labour Joan Grey 994
Liberal Democrats Owen Dumpleton 972
Conservative Justin Garrod 851
Labour Robert Bowman 848
Conservative Jill Martin 731
Independent Walter Scott 669
BNP Gordon Pace 411
Turnout 6,611 36.9
Washington West (3)[9][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Stephenson 1,585
Labour Henry Trueman 1,487
Labour Dennis Haworth 1,392
Liberal Democrats Irene Bannister 969
Liberal Democrats David Griffin 874
Conservative Robert Sharp 762
BNP Frank Butterfield 403
Turnout 7,472 37.5

References
  1. "Sunderland council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  2. "Local councils". Financial Times. 12 June 2004. p. 7.
  3. Casey, Matt (19 May 2004). "All change for city's council". Evening Chronicle. p. 8.
  4. Arnold, Stuart (13 May 2004). "BNP sets its sights on the Labour vote". The Northern Echo. p. 4.
  5. Smith, Ross (28 May 2004). "A mountain to climb". The Journal. p. 16.
  6. "Tories make a dent in stronghold". The Journal. 11 June 2004. p. 8.
  7. Carter, Helen (12 June 2004). "Elections 2004: Mixed results a surprise for BNP". The Guardian. p. 8.
  8. Casey, Matt (11 June 2004). "Labour romp home, BNP fail". Evening Chronicle. p. 8.
  9. "Local Elections Results 2004". Sunderland City Council. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  10. "Ballot box". The Times. 12 June 2004. p. 26.
  11. "Sunderland results". The Journal. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
Preceded by
2003 Sunderland City Council election		 Sunderland City Council elections Succeeded by
2006 Sunderland City Council election
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