Code:

stephen@stephen-ideapad:~$ python3 electrum
python3: can't open file 'electrum': [Errno 2] No such file or directory

anyway, I found it if you read my top message, but it still fails on line 53. sloppy packaging by the devs.

No no, you probably lacking some dependencies, ubuntu can be problematic sometimes.
You may want to check this thread, that is actually for older ubuntu but if you follow the instructions, it should be fine.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2392090.0 I bet its the pip3 thingy you are missing as its not coming as standard python3 install.
Edit: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-bitcoin-wallet-on-ubuntu-18-04-bionic-beaver-linux more in depth guide for you.
FYI electrum works out of the box under Debian Grin

if you are not attached, I suggest a switch to the better system :_p