Post-general election, the Lib Dems have constructed a bulwark of seats in the rural South-West. From Torbay to Tavistock, they replaced swathes of Conservative MPs, making gains where they had lost in 2015 and in places that have only ever been blue.

On the surface, this is good news for those who are keen to see critical homes and infrastructure built within the region. The party’s manifesto recognised a “shortage of affordable and social housing’” that would be addressed by a new target to build 380,000 homes a year.

They have also proposed ten new “garden cities” alongside increased powers for councillors to remove blockages within the planning process.

In an interview on the campaign trail, the party’s leader, Ed Davey, said the party would embrace a “community-led approach”, directed by local people rather than developers. Building the homes we need whilst responding to local priorities seems like an idea we can all get behind.

As ever, things are not quite so simple in politics. On a local level, especially where Liberal Democrats have established a strong foothold within the council, they have often resisted developments that would address the national housing shortage. The party also capitalised upon opposition to local projects to propel successive by-election victories in the previous Parliament.

So where does this leave us?

What we can say is the party has created a grey area that has allowed it to reconcile a chronic housing shortage with obstructing some ambitious local projects. Much of this uncertainty depends upon whether its “community-led” approach will be sufficiently focused on mobilising existing support rather than giving a platform to often louder opposition voices.

During an election campaign, it is possible to adopt competing positions to secure a broad base of support. Sustaining this approach with a much larger bloc of 72 MPs, and the higher level of scrutiny that will result may be a more complex challenge.

With members of the Meeting Place attending the Liberal Democrat party conference this weekend, watch this space as we shed insight on where the party goes next.