UK Explained

Houghton and Sunderland South

Represented in Parliament by Bridget Phillipson (Labour). Here is who won the last general election here, and a few numbers about the area.

Your MP at a glance

Bridget Phillipson, Labour. Open their full page →

These describe the record. They do not say why an MP voted or claimed as they did.

How Houghton and Sunderland South compares

Every dot is one of the 631 areas that have figures. The large red dot is this area; green dots are areas like it.

TYPICAL FULL-TIME PAY, A WEEK

This area is 608 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £642£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 406 areas and lower than 242.

UK 3.9%This area 3.7%0.0%12.0%

Areas like this one

The three areas with the closest pay and claimant rate. This says nothing about politics or geography.

AreaWeekly payClaimants
Houghton and Sunderland South£6423.7%
Rhondda and Ogmore£6433.7%
Rawmarsh and Conisbrough£6543.5%
Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare£6563.5%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in Houghton and Sunderland South

From the 2021 Census, next to the figure for England and Wales as a whole. Census day was 21 March 2021, so some things will have changed.

About the areaThis areaEngland and WalesCompared
Number of people100,43359,597,740 in total
Aged under 1618%18%about the same
Aged 65 and over21%19%2 points higher
Adults with a degree or higher23%34%11 points lower
Households that own their home60%62%2 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association28%17%11 points higher
Households renting privately12%20%9 points lower

Source: ONS, Census 2021 (England and Wales), via the UK Data Service statistics portal. Fetched 2026-10-04. These describe who lives here. They do not explain how anyone votes.

WINNER, 2024
Bridget Phillipson

Labour

MAJORITY
7,169

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
51%

of people who could vote did

Bridget Phillipson won with 47% of the votes, and Sam Wood-Brass (Reform UK) came second with 29%.

Votes for each party

Labour47% · 18,837
Reform UK29% · 11,668
Conservative14% · 5,514
Liberal Democrat6% · 2,290
Green Party4% · 1,723
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Bridget PhillipsonLabour18,83747.1%
Sam Wood-BrassReform UK11,66829.1%
Chris BurnicleConservative5,51413.8%
Paul EdgeworthLiberal Democrat2,2905.7%
Richard BradleyGreen Party1,7234.3%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£642 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
3.7%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Updated 4 Oct 2026