Robert’s never been a political Lightweight...

of US entertainment giant National Amusements’ plan to build a multiplex cinema close to the M62 at Birstall.

Light says the plan – and his support of it – was roundly mocked by Labour rivals. One sneered: “We need a cinema like we need a hole in the head.”

But with cross-party support and much activity behind the scenes the plan was passed and the multi-screen Showcase was built. Only the second venue of its type in the UK at the time, it went on to become the most visited cinema complex in Western Europe.

“There was a huge amount of pride when I pulled that off, and when Showcase took off. That’s what success looks like.”

The Showcase scenario came during a period of polarised politics in Kirklees. For the best part of 20 years Labour dominated the landscape. Light and the Tories were “in perpetual opposition but we carried a certain amount of weight”.

He breaks down the three-decade span of his political life into chapters: the early years, the “golden year” of 1992 when Tories won half the available seats on the council leading to no overall control in 1994, which bucked the national trend as Conservatives locally were losing, and the “dark years” of 1995/96 when John Major’s government was extremely unpopular.

In 1995 he lost his seat and was reelected in 2000. He dubs the period ‘my wilderness years.’ Within six months of re-election he was made Tory group leader.

“I came back with a new credibility. I felt as if the bias against my youth had gone.”

Light sufficiently impressed the big guns to be nominated as a parliamentary candidate. Between 1992 and 2005 he stood three times: in Doncaster North, Halifax, and Batley and Spen.

He jokes that in the aftermath of his campaign in Doncaster, a Labour stronghold, the majority went down