Wandsworth’s first black councillor has urged the people of Wandsworth to take advantage of living in a democracy and turn out to vote.

Bert Luthers, 73, served Tooting ward as a Labour councillor for 17 years, after coming to the country from Guyana in south America aged 19.

After working in a factory, he trained as a social worker before running for the council elections in 1973.

He said: “Take the opportunity. Go forward and use your democratic right. This is a democracy, and I want to keep it that way.

“I hope more young people will turn out this year. It’s very important. In my time, you had to wait until you were 21 to vote.”

Counts for all three constituencies - Tooting, Putney and Battersea, will be held at Wandsworth Town Hall in Wandsworth High Street.

Results for the parliamentary election will be announced late on the night of May 6, while the council election results will transpire the next day.

This year there is a real possibility of a power change, leading some pundits to compare it to the fall of the Conservatives in 1997.

“The counting should be quite interesting,” said Mr Luthers, who now lives in Furzedown.

“The atmosphere is quite controlled, because the people are concentrating on counting. But when the results are announced, there’s applause.

“This year the council and parliamentary elections will be held on the same day. As far as I can remember, that’s only happened once before.”

He added: “I really enjoyed being a councillor in Wandsworth. Good luck to whoever gets to be on the council this year.”

Live coverage of the counts will be available on our website.

Meanwhile, click here for more General and local elections coverage