Before (end of 1977) (78 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 49 · Conservative 26 · The Liberal Party 2 · Other 1
After (end of 1978) (78 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 50 · Conservative 26 · The Liberal Party 1 · Other 1
Ward results
No. 16 (Sunderland: Silksworth)1 seat · turnout 37.3%
| J. Donnelly | Labour | 2,572 |
| R. Musgrave | Conservative | 1,148 |
No. 24 (Penshaw & Herrington)1 seat · turnout 29.1%
| M. Porter | Labour | 1,508 |
| I. Blyth | Conservative | 757 |
| A. Milley | LIB | 183 |
No. 7 (Sunderland: Ford & Pennywell)1 seat · turnout 22.9%
| A. Waistell | Labour | 1,628 |
| D. Wigham | Conservative | 1,074 |
No. 8 (Sunderland: Fulwell)1 seat · turnout 44.4%
| P. Wood | Conservative | 3,123 |
| W. Harrison | Labour | 422 |
| T. Newby | LIB | 204 |
St Chad's1 seat
| W. Pickering | Conservative | 1,976 |
| L. Scott | Labour | 1,194 |
| A. Petrov | LIB | 266 |