Hung Parliament: the lesson from South Gloucestershire

Uncertainty.

That's a sentiment that you'll find everywhere in this election.

People are uncertain who to vote for.

Everyone is unsure what the results will be on Thursday night.

But for voters there's another big unknown: what a hung parliament would mean.

People can be pretty unaware that elsewhere in the UK there are legislatures in which no party has an overall majority - and yet Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not politically paralysed.

The fact is we in the West should be used to it, because lots of our councils are run this way.

Take South Gloucestershire: the council has been hung for seven years.

The Tories presently run it as a minority administration; previously all three parties had managed to share power very politely (that's something no one could imagine happening at Westminster!).

And the result?

Last year the Audit Commission gave their verdict: a top 4-star rating, and special praise for its cross-party working.

A lesson for Westminster from the West...?