The 1999 Sunderland Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of SunderlandMetropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1][2]
After the election, the composition of the council was:
The results saw Labour stay in control, but their leader, Bryn Sidaway, lost his seat after 16 years on the council.[3][4] Sidaway lost in Hendonward by 2 votes to Conservative Paul Maddison after 3 recounts,[4] which was one of 4 gains made by the Conservatives.[5] Labour blamed the defeat of Sidaway on dirty tricks after anonymous posters were displayed associating Sidaway with neo-nazis, but this was denied by the Conservatives.[6] Overall turnout was 20%, but was as low as 12.4% in Central ward.[7]
Following the election Colin Anderson was elected as the new leader of the Labour group and the council.[3]
^"How Britain voted: Council Election Results". The Independent. 8 May 1999. p. 12.
^ ab"Defeated council leader vows to return". The Northern Echo. 10 May 1999. p. 7.
^ abMetcalf, Tony (7 May 1999). "Hague makes it - just". The Northern Echo. p. 1.
^Hetherington, Peter (8 May 1999). "The elections: England: Prescott transforms loss into mid-term triumph Town halls: Tories hit by north-south divide". The Guardian. p. 4.
^Carlin, Brendan (8 May 1999). "Dawning of a new era of coalition". The Northern Echo. p. 1.
^Frean, Alexandra (8 May 1999). "Town hall politics become an increasing irrelevance". The Times. p. 47.
^"How the nations voted". The Times. 8 May 1999. p. 48.
