It was arduous for some, having to line for a while in places as social distancing regulations meant there were restrictions on the number people allowed in Polling Stations at any one point as you stood there with your mask on and hopefully your own pencil to mark with an X (or two) your vote but we had in person voting.
The polling staff here were glad to see the voters and a good number made use of the facilities so for all the effect the staff put in to ensuring we actually had a covid safe personal vote and the care that also delayed the counting, a great many thanks.
There was a Bye-Election for the House of Commons, the seat of the UK Parliament in the town of Hartlepool in the North-east of England which most of the media attention was focused on.
On paper you would of expected Labour to home voting for was a handed down religion in this area but something remarkable happened.
The Conservative candidate, a woman from neighbouring North Yorkshire won it by a landslide and it is fair to say it was a political earthquake.
Roll back to December 2019 in that year of elections when the single biggest electoral disaster for the Labour Party occurred.
It was said results could not get any worse and with changing the leader to something more presentable they would recover.
Well that didn't happen as vast chunks of the Midlands continued to switch with the Conservatives gaining Cannock Chase, Dudley and Bedworth and Nuneaton and parts in the North .
Labour did gain a few things the odd council in the South retained a number of the Elected Mayors but in general the vote was well down.
This week we see the outcome as the different halves of the battle it out over why, the left feeling restoring much of Corbyn's agenda, the centre left want to remove every remaining bit (and much still does) and a reshuffle.
Take two totally different politicians: Boris Johnson and Andy Burnham. You know who they are and what they're about, one was a Elected Mayor before becoming Prime Minister, one is the Elected Mayor for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority area and both have failings.
The strong point of each is they connect and have a direct connection and empathy to the voters that pulls people in who aren't necessary for their parties and they are, like them or loath them, personalities.
Sir Keith Starmer isn't one and he didn't appear to have a clear set of policies, reasons why you should vote FOR labour beyond "Tory Sleaze" and have an answer to what it is they could offer to pull the country out of Covid economically that has been at cost.
Mark Drakeford, the Labour Welsh Assembly leader at least was addressing this and it was no wonder Welsh Labour did a lot better being returned to power in the Senned.
Nationally, that must be our priority, get people back to work, support changes to improve the rights of people at work not least end the so-called "zero hours contract" that is unjust and offer hope and opportunities in what has been a challenging time for all no least the young.
In the local authorities many in Labour areas still feel that for decades of voting for them, they have seen few real changes and often a top heavy approach that discourages people from doing things to help themselves.
That has to change if we are to raise up peoples aspirations and opportunities so people lives do improve.
For many people today this matters more than just a rosette on a person at election time.
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