Photo: Oliver Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Reform UK holds a majority on Sunderland City Council
Springwell is run by Sunderland City Council. Reform UK has a majority on Sunderland City Council. Its MP is Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Labour), member for Washington and Gateshead South.
£2,196
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Springwell’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Sunderland City Council
Reform UK holds a majority on Sunderland City Council: 58 of its 75 seats as elected. The Liberal Democrats hold 12, Labour 5. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Springwell is £2,196 for 2026–27; Sunderland City Council keeps 85% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 57% in ten years, in line with England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 38 of Sunderland’s 75 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK58
- Liberal Democrat12
- Labour5
Latest election: May 2026.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
The councils that run Springwell
One council runs every main service here.
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Kim McGuinness (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: here one council runs every main service.
All of Springwell is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Springwell, from the most recent elections.
- 1Sunderland City Council1 ward · 3 councillorsBrandon Mark FeeleyJoanne ChapmanAdrian Robert Pickering
- 2Mayor of North East Combined AuthorityNorth East Combined Authority · elected May 2024Kim McGuinness
- 3Police and crime commissionerNorthumbria Police · elected May 2024Susan Dungworth
- 4House of CommonsWashington and Gateshead South
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
3 councillors for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Brandon Mark FeeleyLabour and Co-operative · May 2026
- Joanne ChapmanLabour and Co-operative · May 2026
- Adrian Robert PickeringReform UK · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington West20% in Springwell · 2,141 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Brandon Mark FeeleyJoanne ChapmanAdrian Robert Pickering | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Sunderland City Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Sunderland council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Springwell, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Springwell’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗10,861 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Springwell is in Washington and Gateshead South constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Springwell).
37,021 votes for candidates · majority 6,913
Labour, MP since 5 May 2005.
turnout in July 2024: 37,021 votes from 70,972 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 6,913 of 37,021 votes (18.7%): wider than in 64% of England’s 543 constituencies.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Springwell’s Band D council tax is £2,196 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Sunderland City Council keeps £1,876.80 of a Band D bill (85%); the rest goes to the Northumbria police and crime commissioner and the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Sunderland’s Band D bill has risen 57% in ten years, from £1,403.42 in 2016–17, in line with England’s average (56%). It was £600.75 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Sunderland, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Tyne and Wear’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,000.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Tyne and Wear
| Sunderland | Springwell’s councils | Tyne and Wear | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £557 | £560 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £324 | £317 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £56 | £34 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £44 | £33 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £156 | £123 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £42 | £60 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £43 | £24 | £26 |
| Public health | £112 | £106 | £78 |
| Running the council | £91 | £62 | £59 |
| Other | £10 | £9 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,433 | £1,328 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Tyne and Wear and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Springwell is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
sunderland.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
sunderland.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Springwell is run
Does Springwell have a town council?
No. Springwell is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Springwell?
Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Labour) is the MP for Washington and Gateshead South, which covers Springwell.
How many councillors does Springwell have?
3 ward councillors represent Springwell’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Springwell?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Springwell’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Springwell?
Band D council tax in Springwell is £2,196 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Sunderland City Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 58 of 75 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Springwell?
In Springwell’s wards on 7 May 2026, Labour 2 · Reform UK 1 of the 3 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 42.6%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.