| Election Name: | 2023 Sunderland City Council election |
| Country: | England |
| Flag Image: | Coat_of_arms_of_Sunderland_City_Council.png |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2022 Sunderland City Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2022 |
| Election Date: | 4 May 2023 |
| Next Election: | 2024 Sunderland City Council election |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Seats For Election: | 25 of 75 seats on Sunderland City Council |
| Majority Seats: | 38 |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Leader1: | Graeme Miller |
| Seats Before1: | 43 |
| Seats1: | 16 |
| Seats After1: | 45 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 28,796 |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Leader2: | Niall Hodson |
| Seats Before2: | 14 |
| Seats2: | 5 |
| Seats After2: | 15 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 10,882 |
| Party3: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leader3: | Antony Mullen |
| Seats Before3: | 15 |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seats After3: | 13 |
| Seat Change3: | 2 |
| Popular Vote3: | 14,358 |
| Party4: | Reform UK |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats4: | 0 |
| Seats After4: | 1 |
| Seat Change4: | - |
| Popular Vote4: | 4,230 |
| Party5: | Independent politician |
| Seats Before5: | 2 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seats After5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 2 |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,719 |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Election: | Graeme Miller |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Graeme Miller |
| After Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
The 2023 Sunderland City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Sunderland City Council. There were 25 of the 75 seats of the council up for election, being the usual third of the council. The election took place at the same time as other local elections across England.
Labour retained its majority on the council.[1] [2] The Liberal Democrats overtook the Conservatives to become the largest opposition party. The Liberal Democrats were led into the election by Niall Hodson, but he was replaced as party leader after the election by Paul Edgeworth.[3]
25 of the 75 seats will be up for election[4]
Since the first election in 1973, Sunderland has been a strongly Labour council, which consistently achieves over 60% control of the council.[5] However, in recent years they have lost seats to the Conservatives, UKIP and Liberal Democrats. The seats up for election this year were last elected in 2019. In that election, Labour lost 10 seats, The Conservatives gained 4 and Liberal Democrats gained 3.
In 2022, Labour defied speculation they would continue to haemorrhage, Leader Graeme Miller commented that "It was a good night" for his party because they "stopped the rot".
Since the last election, three councillors have defected from the Conservatives, one to Labour, one to Reform UK, and one who currently sits as an Independent and is not standing for re-election. In the last election the Conservatives were outperformed by the Liberal Democrats, who gained one more seat. There was speculation that the Liberal Democrats could take over from the Conservatives as the main opposition party on the council.
In the last council, the composition of the council was:
| 43 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 2 | |
| Labour | Conservative | Lib Dem | Reform UK | Independent |
| 45 | 15 | 13 | 1 | |
| Labour | Lib Dem | Conservative | Reform UK |
An asterisk next to a candidate’s name denotes an incumbent councillor. All changes shown below are in relation to the 2019 local election.
The election in Hendon was countermanded due to the death of the Conservative candidate, Syed Ali. It was held on 15 June.
Iain Scott was elected in a by-election on 30 September 2021 due to the death of the incumbent Labour councillor Doris Turner.
John Usher was elected in a by-election on 3 March 2022 due to the resignation of the incumbent Independent councillor Keith Jenkins.
Pam Mann won this seat in 2019 as a UKIP candidate.