Labour's Bridget Phillipson has been re-elected as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South in the 2024 General Election, securing 18,837 votes and an increased majority of 7,169. The result marks her fifth consecutive victory in the constituency since first being elected in 2010.
In her victory speech at Silksworth Community Pool, Tennis & Wellness Centre, Phillipson said that “after 14 years the British people have chosen change” and that they had “chosen Labour and the leadership of Keir Starmer”. She described the Labour Party as offering “hope and unity, not decline and division” and “stability over chaos”.
The shadow education secretary outlined her priorities for a future Labour government, including more police officers, more teachers, and tackling NHS waiting lists. She said it would be “the honour of my life” to become education secretary, and detailed three key objectives: getting more teachers in classrooms, delivering universal free breakfast clubs for primary school children, and improving mental health support for young people.
Reform UK candidate Sam Woods-Brass came second with 11,668 votes, followed by Conservative Chris Burnicle (5,514), Liberal Democrat Paul Edgeworth (2,290), and Green Party candidate Richard Bradley (1,723). Woods-Brass said that for Reform UK, “the sky was the limit”.
The constituency saw boundary changes prior to the election, with the addition of polling districts from one ward in the former Washington and Sunderland West constituency.
