FOR weeks, the town has been at the centre of a media circus as reporters and TV crews from around the country wanted to catch up with Peter Mandelson.
The ex-cabinet member had a large majority to defend, 17,508, but it was unclear how many of those voters would desert him in the face of the passport row and the not forgotten house loan.
Reporters from national, international and local papers took to the streets of Hartlepool to try to catch a glimpse of the man who has been behind the biggest media frenzy the town has ever seen.
Mr Mandelson cast his vote at noon in St Joseph's Church, Hartlepool, before spending the rest of the day meeting people from all corners of the town including Rift House, St Hilda's and West View.
A spokesman for Mr Mandelson said: "Peter had a full day out and about, meeting people all across the town. We visited a lot of areas and we hopefully saw as many people as we could."
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