Before (end of 1974) (78 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 56 · Conservative 21 · Other 1 · The Liberal Party 0
After (end of 1975) (78 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 52 · Conservative 23 · Other 2 · The Liberal Party 1
Ward results
No. 16 (Sunderland: Silksworth)1 seat · turnout 35.9%
| W. Norman | Ind Lab | 1,593 |
| M. Rathbone | Labour | 1,051 |
| Cowley | Conservative | 396 |
No. 24 (Penshaw & Herrington)1 seat · turnout 28.1%
| T. Willis | Labour | 1,565 |
| Butler | LIB | 534 |
| Wright | Conservative | 248 |
No. 7 (Sunderland: Ford & Pennywell)1 seat · turnout 18.6%
| R. Baxter | Labour | 1,409 ✓ |
| McNish | Conservative | 464 |
| Rutherford | LIB | 272 |
| Dan | COMM | 73 |
No. 8 (Sunderland: Fulwell)1 seat · turnout 52.0%
| E. Rutherford | Conservative | 2,216 |
| R. Atkinson | LIB | 1,802 |
| G. Robson | Labour | 438 |