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1975 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election

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1975 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 1973 1 May 1975 1976 →

One third of 78 seats on Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council
40 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Seats before 56 21 0
Seats won 15 9 1
Seats after 52 23 1
Seat change Decrease4 Increase2 Increase1

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Ind. Labour Party Independent
Seats before 0 1
Seats won 1 0
Seats after 1 1
Seat change Increase1 Steady

Majority party before election

Labour

Majority party after election

Labour

The 1975 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 1 May 1975. A third of the seats on the Council were up for election, with each of the 26 council wards returning one councillor by first-past-the-post. The election was held on the same day as other local elections.

Background

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The new Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council had been formed following the Local Government Act 1972 - all councillors on the new council were elected in an all-up election in 1973. The order in which the councillors were elected in the 1973 election dictated their term serving, with third-place candidates in each ward serving two years and up for re-election in 1975.[1] Labour had come out of the 1973 elections with a clear majority ahead of the Conservatives.

Election results

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Labour maintained a comfortable majority on the Council after the election, despite losing four seats. The Conservatives gained seats from Labour in Deptford and Pallion ward and Humbledon ward, whilst the Liberals took a seat from Labour in Houghton-le-Spring. An Independent Labour Party candidate took a seat from Labour in Silksworth.

Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election results, 1975
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 15 0 4 Decrease4 57.7 38.8 22,066 Decrease12.8
  Conservative 9 2 0 Increase2 34.6 35.4 20,166 Decrease0.7
  Liberal 1 1 0 Increase1 3.8 19.3 10,995 Increase12.4
  All Sunderland District Action Group 0 0 0 Steady 0 3.4 1,925 Decrease3.4
  Ind. Labour Party 1 1 0 Increase1 3.8 2.8 1,593 Increase1.3
  Communist 0 0 0 Steady 0 0.2 123 Decrease0.1
  Independent 0 0 0 Steady 0 0.1 42 Decrease1.2

The election resulted in the following composition of the Council:

Party Council
Labour 52
Conservatives 23
Liberal 1
Independent Labour 1
Independent 1
Total 78
Working majority  26 

References

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  1. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1975. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 June 2020.