| Election Name: | 1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Flag Image: | Arms of the Sunderland City Council.svg |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 1975 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1975 |
| Election Date: | 6 May 1976 |
| Next Election: | 1978 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
| Seats For Election: | One third of 78 seats on Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Country: | England |
| Seats Before1: | 52 |
| Seats1: | 16 |
| Seats After1: | 49 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Majority party | |
| Before Election: | Labour |
| Majority Seats: | 40 |
| Posttitle: | Majority party after election |
| Seats4: | 0 |
| Seats After2: | 26 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats2: | 10 |
| Seat Change2: | 3 |
| Party3: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Seats3: | 0 |
| Party4: | Independent Labour Party |
| After Election: | Labour |
| Seats After3: | 1 |
| Seats After4: | 1 |
| Seats Before2: | 23 |
| Seats Before3: | 1 |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seats After5: | 1 |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Party5: | Independent politician |
The 1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 6 May 1976. 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.
Labour maintained a comfortable majority on the Council after the election, despite losing three seats to the Conservatives.[1]
The election resulted in the following composition of the Council:
| Party | Council | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 49 | ||
| Conservatives | 26 | ||
| Liberal | 1 | ||
| Independent Labour | 1 | ||
| Independent | 1 | ||
| Total | 78 | ||
| Working majority | |||