‘I am local government through and through,’ Labour’s newly-appointed shadow communities secretary Jon Trickett says emphatically. On the evidence of the lengthy journey to where he now sits, it is hard to disagree.

He chuckles when conversation turns to his ‘meteoric rise’ through Leeds City Council. Having lived all his life in the northern city, Mr Trickett was in 1984 elected to the local authority and appointed finance chair three months later. Five years on, he took over as leader.