Who Represents You in Sunderland: MPs, Councillors and the Mayor

Whether you want to report a broken streetlight, comment on a planning application or raise a national issue, it helps to know who actually represents you. Anyone living in the City of Sunderland, from Roker and Pallion to Washington, Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole, has four layers to get to grips with: the councillors elected for your ward, Sunderland City Council as a whole, the Member of Parliament for your constituency, and the North East Mayor. This is a factual, non-partisan guide to who does what, correct as of November 2026, and how to have your say.

Your ward councillors

For council elections Sunderland is divided into 25 wards, each electing three councillors, for a total of 75. New ward boundaries came into force at the election of 7 May 2026, when every seat was contested at once. Some wards were redrawn and renamed in the process, among them Barnes and Thornhill and Deptford and Hendon, so the ward you voted in before 2026 may not be the one you live in now.

Because all three seats in each ward were filled on the same day, the councillors were given staggered terms: the candidate with the most votes in each ward serves until 2030, the second until 2028 and the third until 2027. That puts Sunderland back on its usual pattern of electing one councillor per ward in three years out of four, starting in May 2027.

Ward boundaries do not always follow the streets you might expect, so it is worth checking your own postcode. The council's councillor pages list every member by ward with official contact details, and the national Write to Them service will find your councillors and MP from a postcode. Councillors take up local casework, sit on committees and can be contacted by email or at advertised surgeries.

Sunderland City Council: who is in charge

Sunderland City Council, based at City Hall on Plater Way beside the Riverside Sunderland site, is a metropolitan borough council, so it runs nearly every local service: bins and recycling, council tax, planning, highways, parking, libraries, schools and social care. For the practical side, see our council services in Sunderland guide.

The May 2026 election brought a change of control for the first time in more than 50 years. Labour had run the council continuously for over half a century; at the election Reform UK won 58 of the 75 seats, the Liberal Democrats 12 and Labour 5, with no Conservative, Green or independent councillors returned. A party needs 38 seats for a majority, so Reform UK holds overall control. Turnout was 40.5 per cent. Group sizes can shift after an election through by-elections and councillors changing group, so the council's own member listings are the place to check the current figures.

The Leader of the Council is Cllr Chris Eynon (Reform UK), chosen by his group after the election and formally appointed at the annual council meeting on 20 May 2026. He succeeded Cllr Michael Mordey (Labour), who lost his seat. The Leader chairs the Cabinet, which takes most day-to-day executive decisions; full council sets the budget and major policies, and scrutiny committees review decisions.

Council and committee meetings are generally open to the public, and agendas, minutes and decisions are published on the council's website.

Your MP

At Westminster the city is split between three constituencies, all created by the 2023 boundary review and first used at the July 2024 general election. According to the UK Parliament website, all three MPs are Labour.

• Sunderland Central covers the city centre and much of the area north and south of the Wear around it. The MP is Lewis Atkinson (Labour).
• Houghton and Sunderland South takes in Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole and the southern parts of the city. The MP is Bridget Phillipson (Labour).
• Washington and Gateshead South joins Washington with neighbouring parts of Gateshead borough. The MP is Sharon Hodgson (Labour).

Parliamentary boundaries were drawn using the old council wards, so they do not line up exactly with the new 2026 wards. The reliable way to confirm your MP is the official Find your MP tool on the UK Parliament website, which also gives contact details. MPs vote on national legislation and take up individual casework with government departments, such as benefits, immigration or passports.

Rule of thumb: for bins, parking, planning and local services, go to your ward councillors or the council. For anything run by central government, your MP is the right first port of call.

The North East Mayor

Sunderland is one of seven councils, alongside County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland and South Tyneside, that make up the regional mayoral authority. It was formed on 7 May 2024 as the North East Combined Authority and renamed the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority in May 2026.

The North East Mayor is Kim McGuinness (Labour), elected in May 2024 as the region's first mayor. The authority's work covers areas such as public transport, adult skills and regional investment, and the next mayoral election is due in May 2028. Policing is overseen separately by the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, an elected role that holds the Chief Constable to account and sets the force's budget.

How to register to vote

You cannot vote in any election unless you are on the electoral register. Registering takes about five minutes at gov.uk/register-to-vote; you will need your National Insurance number. Students at the University of Sunderland can be registered at both their term-time and home addresses, though you can only vote once in a general election.

You need accepted photo ID to vote in person at most elections in England. If you do not have any, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate through gov.uk. Postal and proxy votes are available if getting to a polling station is difficult.

Having your say between elections

Voting is only part of it. The council runs public consultations on everything from transport schemes to the annual budget, and planning applications are published on its planning portal for comment. Writing to your councillors or MP, attending a surgery or going along to a council meeting remain some of the most direct ways to raise an issue. If you are new to the city, our moving to Sunderland guide covers the other things worth sorting in your first few weeks.

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