Outgoing Sunderland City Council leader Graeme Miller gets standing ovation as replacement is crowned

Sunderland City Council’s outgoing council leader received a standing ovation from Labour councillors this week following praise for his role in helping to transform Wearside.

Councillor Graeme Miller was replaced as council leader at an ‘extraordinary meeting’ of full council on Monday, where new council leader Michael Mordey was officially appointed.

The situation in the city’s Labour Group hit the headlines in recent weeks after party officials from outside the city cancelled a key meeting and invited applications for key political positions.

This saw the national Labour Party effectively choose council leader and deputy leader positions in Sunderland’s ruling Labour Group, instead of elected Labour city councillors making the decision, a move previously criticised by Labour Party members and former North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll.

While this issue was referenced at Sunderland City Council’s extraordinary meeting on May 20, 2024, Labour councillors in attendance voted for new council leader Cllr Mordey.

Councillor Graeme Miller, who endorsed the new council leader, invited other Labour councillors to do the same and reflected on his time as council leader since 2018.

A tribute from councillor Phil Tye, chair of the Sunderland Labour Group, also listed council achievements under Cllr Miller’s leadership.

This included the major transformation of the former Vaux site and now Riverside Sunderland regeneration site, as well as work to attract new businesses and investment to the city, including the new Crown Works film studios, along with Cllr Miller’s key role, with other council leaders, in helping to establish the new North East Mayoral Combined Authority.

Cllr Tye said that Cllr Miller had a legacy to be proud of in Sunderland and that the outgoing council leader was planning to “spend more time with his family and focus on his health”.

The speech from Cllr Tye was followed by a standing ovation from Labour councillors in the council chamber.

Cllr Miller, speaking later at the City Hall meeting, said: “I have got absolutely no negative words to say about people because as I have always said, to be a councillor you have to be brave because you have to stand.

“When you stand you risk getting beat and everybody in this chamber has done that and are here because they’re merited in being here.

“I’ve then got to thank the Labour Group, they have given me and continue to give me great support.

“You cannot be successful without your group and I have always thanked the group for that and I remind them again this evening, I’m genuinely very appreciative of that standing ovation thank you very much.

“As I have always said to you all this is our success, I was the steward of the plan by all means but it was all of us.

“Once again I put that over to everybody in the chamber because ultimately, it is the council that makes decisions.

“I’m very pragmatic, I know where I am and life has to move on and the city council needs a leader of the council to get its business done and I will be voting for that new leader.

“If I can do it, everybody else in the chamber should be able to do it because it’s essential for us to continue delivering services”.

Cllr Miller thanked the residents of Washington South for electing him five times and pledged to “continue to represent their needs moving forward” as a ward councillor.

The outgoing council leader also thanked council officers and said he had been “blessed with having a great officer team”.

Cllr Miller continued: “I don’t just mean the chief executive and senior officers sat here in the chamber, I mean everyone.

“We genuinely have a great set of people who work for this city, from the cleaners and the drivers and the people that cut the grass, to the senior and middle management that organise everything.

“Because we have worked well with them for six years really well and closely, that’s enabled that list of success that has been read out and it will continue so I genuinely thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

“It could not have been done without everybody buying into that team effort”.

The outgoing council leader, in reference to the Labour Group changes after the local elections in recent weeks, praised Labour Group chair Cllr Phil Tye for his support and work.

Cllr Miller said: “Cllr Phil Tye is an outstanding chair, over the last couple of weeks he has held this group and tried to navigate through the awkwardness of the situation at times so that we were Labour and we’re still Labour and we’re still Labour going forward”.

During Monday’s council meeting, the Wearside Liberal Democrats questioned the process the Labour Group went through over the appointment of a new leader, with Lib Dem Group leader Paul Edgeworth describing it as an “insult to democracy”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Wood also asked why an “effective councillor” was leaving the council leader role.

Cllr Phil Tye, chair of Sunderland Labour Group, said the issue was being politicised by the opposition and gave examples of other councils in the country facing leadership changes.

Councillor Antony Mullen, Conservative Group leader, described Cllr Miller as a “good speaker in the chamber but a terrible listener”.

The Conservative councillor said he hoped leadership changes in Sunderland would lead to better cross-party working and an improved culture in the council chamber.

Cllr Mullen said: “I hope that the election of Michael Mordey tonight will turn the corner in how the council is run.

“I hope that he can be more constructive with the opposition and listen to us when we have genuine concerns that are not confected and that we care about deeply, and that we all got elected to see delivered”.

New council leader Cllr Michael Mordey last served as deputy leader under councillor Graeme Miller but was “removed” from his position in 2020 over “internal Labour Party politics”.

The councillor, who was elected as council leader this week with 50 votes in favour and 17 against, paid tribute to outgoing council leader Cllr Miller for “leading the city through a period of significant regeneration”.

Cllr Mordey said: “The city centre in particular is unrecognisable today to what it was when he became leader.

“Cllr Miller also played a key role alongside the other North East leaders in negotiating the trailblazer devolution deal that gives Sunderland and the wider North East more control over our own destiny.

“For that, we owe him our thanks and appreciation, I would personally Graeme like to thank you for all you did for the city”.

The extraordinary meeting also saw a new ‘slimmed-down’ cabinet announced for Sunderland City Council, with re-branded roles and some new faces.

The council meeting is available to watch on Sunderland City Council’s YouTube channel.