It looks like strong and stable turned out to be weak and wobbly.

Theresa May’s gamble didn’t pay off and many Conservatives will be furious that she threw away a working majority on what seems like a whim.

For Jeremy Corbyn, the result means that many Labour MPs and supporters are eating humble pie this morning – he wasn’t the disaster they all predicted.

Ukip? Well, the less said about their nightmare the better but Paul Nuttall has resigned, he’s at least done the honourable thing. For the rest it’s the same old, same old. Our Green MP Caroline Lucas was returned with almost double her majority. Brighton Kemptown has fallen to Labour and the Lib Dems regained Eastbourne.

How did you vote? In any election, I think you have three choices when considering how to exercise your democratic right. You can vote for either a person, a party or the policies. If you’re lucky, then all three will mesh in some way – you’ll like the person, what they stand for and how they conduct themselves and the party will present policies you fully support.

Throughout this campaign, I’ve been annoyed at the reasons some people give for how they will vote. Things like “I’ve voted Labour all my life, but I don’t like Jeremy Corbyn so I’m not voting Labour this time”. Alternatively “I like Theresa May, she is much more statesmanlike than Corbyn and I don’t even know who leads the Lib Dems so I’m voting Conservative”.

An election isn’t, and shouldn’t ever be, a popularity contest. We aren’t voting for the best-looking person to lead the country or someone whose mental maths is “genius level”. If we were, why not stop all election campaigns and just decide who looks good in a suit and vote for her/him? Why not have a talent show and put the leaders on stage to do karaoke and vote into No 10 the best singer?

The leader debates were shambolic – shouting over each other, snide comments, backbiting and behaviour that was frankly appalling. It might make good TV but was unedifying and a poor example of high-level debate.

In an experiment, a company took just the policies and deleted any reference to a party. They presented these to a representative group of people. They asked which policies they would support and what they would like enacted. Labour policies came out on top, Conservative policies came bottom, below even Ukip. When people were informed, some were shocked. Their reaction was “oh, that’s Labour? What a pity, I don’t like Corbyn so can’t really vote for him”. Personality still won out over policy. I find that depressing.

I’ve never found a political party I 100 per cent agree with. My vote is cast on a best-fit basis with policy. The individual candidate comes, in my decision-making, next to policy. My current MP, Caroline Lucas, cannot be PM, however good she is, however effective an orator she is (and she is very effective). No matter what the policies of the Green Party are, they will not be policies that are fully enacted in Parliament. My vote was to help return the person to Parliament who I think will work on my behalf to enact and change any proposed policies so they meet my aspirations for a fairer society.

Our first-past-the-post system of electing MPs is also a major problem. Millions of votes for a party can result in just one or even no MPs. That means millions of people unrepresented. Under the current system, the big parties can change constituency boundaries when they are in power to give themselves an advantage over the other party and ensure that key strongholds, held by the opposition, are weakened.

Proportional representation, although more complex, would lead to a fairer system of representation. It means that some parties – controversial ones like Ukip – may gain seats where currently they’re excluded. In a democratic society, we must live with the fact that some political positions, which we may see as divisive or unpalatable, will have to be listened to and taken seriously.

Provided those parties uphold the rule of law, their voice should be heard. We should also have the option of “none of the above” when we vote, with that percentage reported as an indicator of our (dis)satisfaction with the candidates presented. I’d also make voting a mandatory duty of every citizen. A low turnout can bring shock results, something we all have to live with.

Did you vote on personality? Policy? Or was it more tribal, voting for a party, that is, voting with people “just like me” – or did you just not bother and now have to live with the consequences of someone else’s choice?