UPATED Wandsworth’s local elections take place on Thursday 7 May. All 58 council seats across every ward are up for grabs, and 20 of those seats are in Putney’s seven wards. Here is everything you need to know to make sure your vote counts.
The deadlines arrive fast. You must register to vote by midnight on Monday 20 April. If you want a postal vote, the deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 21 April. And if you need a free photo ID certificate to vote in person, you must apply by 5pm on Tuesday 28 April. Miss any of these and you cannot vote.
This guide covers how to vote, where to vote, what you are voting for, and who currently holds each Putney ward. We will update it with the full list of candidates once nominations close on 9 April, and with confirmed hustings details as they come in.
How to vote in person
You need photo ID. This is the second local election with this requirement, introduced under the Elections Act 2022, and it catches people out. Bring your passport, driving licence (including provisional), blue badge, or any accepted photo ID. Expired documents are fine as long as the photo still looks like you. Only originals count. No photocopies, no phone screenshots.
If you do not have any accepted ID, you can get a free Voter Authority Certificate. Apply online at GOV.UK or pick up a paper form at Wandsworth Town Hall, where staff can also take your photo. The deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 28 April.
Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm. You must go to your assigned station, not whichever is nearest. Your poll card tells you which one. If you have lost your poll card, use the Electoral Commission’s polling station finder to check by postcode.
How to vote by post
Apply by 5pm on Tuesday 21 April. You now need to provide your National Insurance number and signature when applying, another change under the Elections Act 2022.
If your postal vote is already set up or your application is approved by 1 April, your ballot pack will be posted on 20 April. If approved between 2 and 21 April, it goes out on 24 April.
One thing that trips people up: postal vote registrations now expire after three years. If you signed up for a postal vote before 2024, you may need to reapply. We covered the renewal issue in January when 10,000 Wandsworth postal voters were at risk of losing their vote.
Postal voters do not need photo ID. You can post your completed ballot back or hand-deliver it to any polling station in Wandsworth or to the Town Hall on polling day.
How to vote by proxy
If you cannot get to your polling station on 7 May, you can appoint someone to vote on your behalf. Apply by 5pm on Tuesday 28 April. Your proxy will need to bring their own photo ID to the polling station. Emergency proxy applications are available up to 5pm on polling day itself if something unexpected comes up, such as a medical emergency or lost ID.
Where to vote
There are 30 polling stations across Putney’s seven wards. Your poll card tells you which station is yours. Below is the full list, drawn from the council’s 2024 Polling District and Places Review.
East Putney (4 stations): St Stephen’s Church, Manfred Road, SW15 2RS; St Thomas A Becket Church Hall, Santos Road, SW18 1NT; St Michael’s Church Hall, 71 Wimbledon Park Road, SW18 5TT; Cadet Hall, Army Reserve Centre, rear of 19 Lytton Grove, SW15 2EZ.
Roehampton (6 stations): Brookside Community Centre, 12 Priory Lane, SW15 5JQ; Aubyn Square Community Clubroom, Eastwood North Estate, SW15 5NQ; Roehampton Library, 2 Danebury Avenue, SW15 4HD; Sports Pavilion, Roehampton Playing Fields, Coppice Drive, SW15 5BW; St Joseph’s Catholic Church Hall, 218 Roehampton Lane, SW15 4LE; Newlands Hall, Putney Vale Community Clubroom, 226 Stroud Crescent, SW15 3EP.
Southfields (3 stations): St Barnabas’ Church Hall, Merton Road, SW18 5EP; Everyday Church, 225 Wimbledon Park Road, SW18 5RH; Southfields Academy, 333-337 Merton Road, SW18 5JU.
Thamesfield (4 stations): All Saints’ Church Putney, Putney Common, SW15 1HL; Platt Mission, 22 Felsham Road, SW15 1DA; East Putney Scout Centre, 42 Oxford Road, SW15 2LQ; Brandlehow Nursery School, Fawe Park Road, SW15 2ED.
Wandsworth Town (5 stations): Training and Resource Centre, 77 Alma Road, SW18 1AQ; St John’s Methodist Church, East Hill, SW18 2HT; Penfold Centre, 1 Neville Gill Close, SW18 4TJ; St Anne’s Church Hall, St Ann’s Crescent, SW18 2RS; Vineyard 61 Church, West Side, Melody Road, SW18 2QQ. (A note on this one: Wandsworth Town ward is split across three parliamentary constituencies. All five stations elect the same Wandsworth Town ward councillors, but your MP may be the member for Putney, Battersea or Tooting depending on which polling district you are in.)
West Hill (4 stations): Open Door Community Centre, Beaumont Road, SW19 6TF; Wimbledon Park Rifle Club, rear of 135 Granville Road, SW18 5SF; St Paul’s Community Centre, 23 Inner Park Road, SW19 6ED; Southfields Library, 300 Wimbledon Park Road, SW19 6NL.
West Putney (5 stations): St Margaret’s Putney, Putney Park Lane, SW15 5HU; Dryburgh Hall, Putney Leisure Centre, Dryburgh Road, SW15 6JA; Putney Methodist Church, Gwendolen Avenue, SW15 6SN; Boyd Court Clubroom, 103 Carslake Road, SW15 3DD; Holy Trinity Church Roehampton, Ponsonby Road, SW15 4LA.
What you are voting for
You are electing ward councillors, not an MP. Depending on your ward, you will have two or three votes because Putney’s wards return either two or three councillors each. Use all your votes. Councillors serve four-year terms and they make the decisions that shape daily life: housing, planning applications, school places, roads, bin collections, parks, social care.
The council is funded by council tax, business rates and government grants. It is run by whichever party (or coalition) commands a majority of the 58 seats. That means 30 councillors.
Labour currently holds 34 seats. The Conservatives hold 23. Malcolm Grimston sits as an independent in West Hill. Labour won control in 2022 for the first time since 1978, ending more than four decades of Conservative rule. But a by-election in West Putney in May 2024 saw a 7.7-point swing to the Conservatives, trimming Labour’s majority from 35 seats to 34.
Your ward: who holds what
Across Putney’s seven wards, Conservatives currently hold 11 of the 20 seats, Labour holds 8, and there is one independent.
| Ward | Seats | Current councillors | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Putney | 3 | Finna Ayres (Lab), George Crivelli (Con), Ravi Govindia (Con) | Lab 1, Con 2 |
| Roehampton | 3 | Graeme Henderson (Lab), Matthew Tiller (Lab), Jenny Yates (Lab) | Lab 3 |
| Southfields | 2 | Kim Caddy (Con), Guy Humphries (Con) | Con 2 |
| Thamesfield | 3 | Ethan Brooks (Con), James Jeffreys (Con), John Locker (Con) | Con 3 |
| Wandsworth Town | 3 | Sarah Davies (Lab), Sana Jafri (Lab), Will Sweet (Con) | Lab 2, Con 1 |
| West Hill | 3 | Daniel Ghossain (Con), Malcolm Grimston (Ind), Angela Ireland (Lab) | Con 1, Ind 1, Lab 1 |
| West Putney | 3 | Jeremy Ambache (Lab), Nick Austin (Con), Steffi Sutters (Con) | Lab 1, Con 2 |
The wards to watch are East Putney, West Putney and West Hill and Wandsworth Town where representation is already split between parties.
Who is standing
Nominations closed at 4pm on Thursday 9 April. The full list of candidates broken out by ward can be seen below.
Hustings: come and ask them
Three hustings are confirmed so far for Putney wards:
| Date | Wards | Venue | Organiser |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 13 April | East Putney and Thamesfield | Community Church, Werter Road | Putney Society |
| Wednesday 15 April | Roehampton and West Putney | Holy Trinity Church | TBC |
| Tuesday 21 April | Southfields | St Barnabas Church | Southfields Grid Residents’ Association |
We do not yet have confirmed hustings for West Hill or Wandsworth Town. If you are organising one or know of one, email news@putney.news and we will add it.
If you want to know what questions to put to your candidates, we published ten questions every Putney council candidate should be able to answer last week. Take it with you.
Why it matters
Wandsworth has the lowest council tax in England. It also has a council that lost 6,558 votes in the 2024 general election because of a spreadsheet error. The administration that runs this borough after 7 May will decide what happens to your council tax, your local roads, your planning applications and your public services for the next four years.
Turnout in Wandsworth in 2022 was under 40 per cent. If you think local government does not matter, consider that it controls more of your daily environment than Westminster does.
Before you vote, we would also recommend reading our fact-check of the claims in Wandsworth’s council tax leaflet, our analysis of what the recent wave of council announcements tells us about the elections, and our election reader survey if you have not already had your say.
Key dates at a glance
| Deadline | Date |
|---|---|
| Nominations close | 4pm Thursday 9 April |
| Register to vote | Midnight Monday 20 April |
| Apply for postal vote | 5pm Tuesday 21 April |
| Apply for Voter Authority Certificate | 5pm Tuesday 28 April |
| Apply for proxy vote | 5pm Tuesday 28 April |
| Polling day | Thursday 7 May, 7am to 10pm |
If you have any questions about voting, contact Wandsworth Electoral Services at electoral@wandsworth.gov.uk or 020 8871 6023.
This guide will be updated with the full candidate list, confirmed hustings details, and an interactive polling station map in the coming days. We will be covering every ward result on election night. Bookmark this page and share it with anyone who needs it.
Correction, 10 April: An earlier version of this story stated that there was a vacancy for the Wandsworth Town ward. This was not correct. Councillor Sana Jafri is in fact standing in these elections for the adjacent St Mary’s ward. The story has been updated to reflect this.
Update, 11 April: the full list of candidates standing has been added to this page.
This is really helpful. I am looking forward to your coverage of the candidates and their views on the issues that matter to me. This will be important to make sure we vote the right council in for next 4 years.
I second the comment that this is very helpful. Thank you for your coverage.