What Election?

Has everyone forgotten last week's election already?
The first of possibly many elections no one has ever heard of and (more importantly) no one cares about: The Police and Crime Commissioner.
The crime commissioner or (misleadingly) PCC (as he/she is not a PC in any shape or form) will not be directly involved in front line policing. They will have the all 'important' and not at all pointless role of:

• Setting force budgets
• Agreeing local policing policies
• recruiting and dismissing chief constables

To be honest, it seems like an odd thing to vote for. This is a position that is meant to be apolitical but in reality it is turning out to be very partisan. In the counties we'll find mostly Conservative candidates elected and in the cities mostly Labour. In my own district, Devon and Cornwall, only one of the candidates was had even worked in the Police. How can we vote for an independent Commissioner if we are actually voting for Liberals or Conservatives? Surely they will be acting in party interests?
Furthermore, can these elections even be classed as legitimate? With appalling voter turnout in every constituency, Manchester recorded it's worst byelection turnout ever. With less than 20% of the electoral vote in many places, half our residents won't even know who it was they didn't vote for! To conclude: what's the point?