Constituency profile

Houghton and Sunderland South

North East · County constituency · Sunderland borough

Bridget Phillipson MP
Sitting MP

Bridget Phillipson

Labour

First elected May 2010Cabinet: Minister for Women and Equalities

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
North East
County constituency, Sunderland council
Last 5 GE winners
LLLLL
Labour 5/5
EU referendum 2016
62.4% Leave
UK average 51.9%; +10.5pp above mean
Current outlook
Reform UK +4.9pp
Vulnerability score 9/10 (Labour projected to lose)
NorthernStrong Leave areaWorking-class profile

About the Houghton and Sunderland South constituency

Houghton and Sunderland South is a county constituency in the North East. The sitting MP is Bridget Phillipson (Labour), first elected in May 2010. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 47.0% to 29.1% for Reform UK, a majority of 7,169 votes on a 51.0% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has Reform UK on 40.9% and Labour on 36.0%, a margin of 4.9 points - a projected change of hands from Labour.

Who lives in Houghton and Sunderland South? Constituency demographics

From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.

Leave vote 2016
62.4%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
22.9%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
23.6%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
59.5%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
40.1%
UK average ~36%
Median age
43.8
UK median ~40
Age 65+
25.1%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
27.6%
UK average ~28%

How did Houghton and Sunderland South vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?

2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.

2024 general election

Lab hold · majority 7,169 votes (17.9pp) · turnout 51.0%

Current projection

If a general election were held today, at current poll average

Map of Houghton and Sunderland South

Switch between GE2024 ward winners (modelled estimates, ~4pp average error) and a demographic view from the 2021 Census. Hover any area for detail. How the map is built ›

Council layer (not Westminster)

Houghton and Sunderland South within Sunderland

Houghton and Sunderland South sits entirely within Sunderland Council. The figures below are from the council elections held on 7 May 2026. About this layer ›

Council overlap

CouncilShare of seatProjection
Sunderland
65 LSOAs
100%View projection ›

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward - May 2026 results where the council voted, otherwise the most recent available result. How this table is sourced ›

Ward GE2024 winner Latest council winner Shift since GE2024 Turnout
Copt HillLabour 48.4%vs Reform 30.3%2024 Labour 57.4%vs Reform 15.8%-27.3%
DoxfordLabour 42.1%vs Reform 29.0%May 2026 Lib Dem 46.5%vs Reform 35.2%now part of Doxford Park
Labour→Lib Dem
+33.1pp
-
HettonLabour 49.9%vs Reform 30.2%May 2026 Reform 54.0%vs Labour 26.0%
Labour→Reform
+23.9pp
-
HoughtonLabour 51.9%vs Reform 27.7%2024 Labour 61.4%vs Reform 13.8%-26.1%
SandhillLabour 43.4%vs Reform 29.7%2024 Lib Dem 60.5%vs Labour 24.9%-28.6%
Shiney RowLabour 50.0%vs Reform 27.2%May 2026 Reform 49.3%vs Labour 30.3%now part of Penshaw Shiney Row
Labour→Reform
+21.0pp
-
SilksworthLabour 48.1%vs Reform 27.4%May 2026 Reform 48.8%vs Labour 32.4%now part of Farringdon Silksworth
Labour→Reform
+18.5pp
-
St Anne'sLabour 43.5%vs Reform 32.5%2024 Labour 45.0%vs Conservative 22.2%-24.4%
St Chad'sLabour 41.5%vs Reform 29.4%2024 Conservative 45.8%vs Labour 34.6%-33.0%

Projection trajectory

PollCheck's projection for Houghton and Sunderland South at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.

Who has won Houghton and Sunderland South at past general elections?

2024 and notional 2019 rows are on current boundaries; 2010-2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time. More on boundaries ›

Year Result MP Lab Con LD Right (Ref/UKIP) Green Other Majority Turnout
2010Lab holdBridget Phillipson50.3%21.4%13.9%2.7% UKIP-11.6%10,99055.3%
2015Lab holdBridget Phillipson55.1%18.5%2.1%21.5% UKIP2.8%-12,93856.3%+1.0
2017Lab holdBridget Phillipson59.5%29.7%2.2%5.7% UKIP1.7%1.2%12,34160.9%+4.6
2019notionalLabour winnerBridget Phillipson 2019 MP, pre-review boundary40.4%32.9%5.9%2.3% Brx2.7%15.8%3,27157.0%-3.9
2024Lab holdBridget Phillipson47.1%13.8%5.7%29.1% Ref4.3%-7,16951.0%-6.0

Earlier years are on pre-2024 boundaries; comparable results on the new boundary will be added when sourced.

Constituencies most like Houghton and Sunderland South

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Houghton and Sunderland South. Politics shown for context.

What would change this seat?

Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.

Related

Sources

Every figure on this page is computed from the sources below. Read the full methodology ›

Show full source list
  • 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
  • Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
  • Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
  • Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
  • May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
  • Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
  • Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
  • EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
  • MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
  • Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
  • Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.

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