Two out of three people in Britain say we have a housing crisis, and the public does not feel the political parties are doing enough. Just 18% agree that politicians pay a lot of attention to housing, and nearly 46% disagree. As a result, 53% of the public say they support Whitehall instructing councils how many houses they must get built. Only 16% disagree.

There is a catch of course – as the Conservative candidate for Chesham and Amersham found to his cost. This is that when the bull dozers and JCBs start work – or even plans are announced – support drops: locally only 46% support more housing being built in their area, with 27% opposed. Long experience shows that those opposed will be far more vocal than those in favour.