Reform takes control of Sunderland and Gateshead and South Tyneside after decades of Labour leadership - BBC News

Local elections in England cover more than 5,000 seats across 136 local authorities and six mayoral races. The banner shows each party’s seat total as results come in.

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Summary

Reform takes control of Sunderland City Council after more than 50 years of Labour leadership
Reform takes control of Gateshead Council after more than 50 years of Labour leadership
South Tyneside is now under Reform's control ending almost 50 years of Labour leadership
No party has a majority in Newcastle with the Liberal Democrats narrowly the largest party, followed by Reform and the Greens
Hartlepool was the only council which voted overnight - Reform won all the seats which were up for grabs
Labour is still in charge of North Tyneside Council but Reform is now the chief opposition

Live Reporting

Written by Pamela Tickell and edited by Rachel Kerr

Elections results to be declared for North East councilspublished at 10:00 BST 8 May

Yesterday voters across the north-east of England went to the polls to vote in the local council elections.
Up for grabs are seats at six councils in the region - all the seats at Gateshead, Newcastle, Sunderland and South Tyneside Councils, and a third of the seats at North Tyneside and Hartlepool Councils.
The Hartlepool results were declared overnight and we'll bring you more on that shortly.
All the other results will be declared later on today and we'll bring you them as they happen along with plenty of analysis about what it all means. Stick with us through the day as we bring you the North East's 2026 local election story.