I thought I would write this up to help others in the future,

My dash light would not light when the handbrake was up so I figured it was the switch in the console.
First remove the brake lever boot. Firmly squeeze the boot to free the clips on each side and the rear. The boot then slides to the rear. This is fairly difficult so be gentle. I managed to only break one of the clips.
The switch is a simple copper spring clip that holds a bare wire. When the levers is up the clip and wire are grounded and the dash light goes on.
My wire was sitting loose and free of the clip so nothing happened when the lever was pulled. Once reinstalled the light works !
Reinstall the boot and we're done.

Now I am much less likely to drive off with the ebrake still on.