My other sad task this afternoon is to mark the passing of the former First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, who died suddenly last Wednesday. Many of us have lost a friend, and Wales has lost a political giant, and we extend our condolences to our colleague, Julie, who has lost her life partner. I invite the First Minister to lead the tributes to Rhodri.

Diolch, Llywydd. Can I begin by offering the sympathies of the whole Chamber to Julie and the family after the shocking news that they received. I’m sure all Members will want to join me in those sentiments.

Last week there was a leader’s debate, which some of us took part in, in Penarth. When I left that debate, as soon as I left the chamber the debate had taken place in, I received the news that Rhodri had passed away.

Hywel Rhodri Morgan was named after two kings, and he served in this place with distinction as First Minister for nearly 10 years. There are many of us who knew him, had the honour of knowing him, for many of those years, and we will all, I’m sure, in the course of the next hour or so, share some of the experiences, so many of them pleasant, all of them pleasant, that we had in his company.

The first time I met him was in the summer of 1997 in the Metropole hotel in Llandrindod Wells. The ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign had organised a weekend event there to discuss campaigning for the forthcoming devolution referendum in the September of that year. I remember watching that evening a rugby match—USA versus Wales—with Rhodri and Kevin Brennan. Rhodri was a great sports fan, as we know, and I first had experience of the wit that he had, because the game was being played on what seemed to be a public park and, behind the posts, there were no terraces, no stands, but woodland, and Rhodri, in the course of the game, had to say, ‘I’ve never seen such a well camouflaged crowd’. I remember it was the first time I’d heard him speak and he then started to speak to me, and that’s the first time I had a conversation with him.

He was very proud to have been First Secretary, as it was in 2000, and subsequently First Minister, a role, of course, he filled in every way in his time in that role. Llywydd, he was pretty much the same age as my father—10 months younger than my father—and I saw him very much as part of that generation. He was, to me, somebody who I saw as a father figure in politics. The phrase ‘father of the nation’ has been used, but certainly he was somebody who I very much looked up to. He was somebody who commanded such respect, but, of course, he was somebody who was down to earth.

Fe ddywedaf i stori yn Gymraeg achos dim ond yn Gymraeg mae’n gweithio. Achos y ffaith bod Rhodri llawer yn henach na fi, roeddwn i’n wastod yn galw ‘chi’ arno fe. Ar ôl amser, fe ddywedodd e, ‘Grinda, fachgen’—roedd e wastad yn galw ‘bachgen’ arnaf i—‘mae’n rhaid i ti nawr alw “ti” arnaf i’. Roedd hi’n anodd, wrth gwrs, i’r rheini ohonom ni sy’n siarad Cymraeg, i newid yn y ffordd yna. Ond, dyna beth wnes i. Fe fues i’n siarad gyda fy mam-gu, a oedd yn fyw bryd hynny, ac fe ddywedais wrthi hi fy mod i’n galw ‘ti’ ar Rhodri. ‘Beth?’, meddai hi, ‘Beth? Ti’n galw “ti” ar Rhodri Morgan? Does dim parch ’da ti?’

Ie, wel, digon o barch, mae hynny’n siŵr. Ond, nid oedd gan Rhodri—ac rwy’n mynd i ddefnyddio’r gair sy’n cael ei ddefnyddio yn Nyffryn Aman a Chwm Tawe—nid oedd ‘clemau’ gyda fe; ‘airs and graces’ yw’r cyfieithiad neu’r dehongliad yn Saesneg.

Rhodri was somebody who commanded great respect, but, for him, there was no ceremony, no airs and graces. What I am now as a politician I owe to him. He was the person who gave me my opportunity, in July 2000, to become Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary, as the title was then. These days, when we have Cabinet reshuffles, they take place on a pre-arranged schedule, they’re planned beforehand. He rang me at 10.30 p.m. on a Saturday night to tell me that I’d been promoted to the Cabinet and would I join him on the way to the Royal Welsh two days later. So, there was no notice given—that was the way that Rhodri was, ringing at that time on a Saturday night.

Many of us will remember the foot and mouth crisis of 2001. Rhodri’s view was that, as a young Minister, I had to get on with it, that it was my responsibility, but he was there to give help and guidance and support if it was needed. But he never interfered. He let me learn, he let me deal with the situation, but he was there if I needed his advice, and I very much valued that. It was truly an honour for me, in December 2009, to succeed him.

Rhodri was very much a family man. He delighted in his family. He delighted in his grandchildren. He spoke with much pride about all his family. For those who have been to his house, he had a set of rugby posts there and he had a copse where he’d often light little fires where people could gather. For him, family was everything.

When he left active politics, he was determined to take up other interests that time had prevented him from doing in the years gone by. He started learning the piano. For those of us who remember him as First Minister, when he couldn’t turn a computer on, he became somebody who was a great technophile, and I used to pull his leg that pretty soon he’d be dominating Twitter. He loved his garden. He was a great gardener. Many people in this Chamber, and outside, will have the experience of going to Rhodri’s house and being presented quite often with a cabbage from the garden, fresh from the soil, often with the soil still on it, I remember, but he delighted in that. His pride in his garden was something that was obvious to all.

He had a fantastic bank of knowledge about everything. It was amazing what he could recall. Particularly, he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of sport that went back to the 1940s. I often think that Rhodri would have been a fantastic pub quiz team companion, given his great knowledge on almost any subject. There was literally nothing I felt that he knew nothing about. He could always tell you something new about almost any subject. Rhodri was a hugely intelligent man with a fine mind, but he was at home with anybody. He had a remarkable talent for remembering people’s names. He would meet people 10 years on from their original, and perhaps only, meeting and he would remember their names and remember what they had said to him. How he did it, I don’t know, but it was incredible, and it was one of the things that he did and so many people remarked on that. It went so far in the public mind in associating him with being somebody who had a deep interest in other people. He was a great mixer and a great character, and he will be missed by his family, of course, but so many people around Wales and beyond.

Yr wythnos diwethaf, fe gollom ni un o gewri’r genedl. Mae e wedi mynd, ond mae ei enw e, wrth gwrs, wedi’i ysgrifennu mewn i’n hanes.

Last week, we lost one of our nation’s giants. He may be gone, but his name is written into our history.

I call on the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Could I begin by, obviously, passing on our deepest condolence to Julie, who joins us here today, and the rest of her family, who I believe are in the gallery, from the Conservative group and from my good self personally. I well remember the first time—and I made this comment last week— when I first met Rhodri and he was busily barricading his garden to try and stop my cattle going into his garden. I have to say, as a farmer, you normally get used to quite a few irate individuals when your cattle are doing a merry dance on their garden. Rhodri was more interested in what type of cattle they were, and the ultimate destination of where those cattle might be going. I think that well encapsulates who Rhodri Morgan was. He was a man who had a willingness to want to know, a thirst to understand, and, above all, he was a genuine, decent, upright individual. I had the real privilege to serve here in one term of this Assembly in 2007 to 2011, and, as a new Member, admittedly from another party, he always engaged, he always discussed things, and you always felt you had that sense of comradery with him. I feel deeply privileged to have been able to serve one term in this institution. The way that he conducted himself in the role of First Minister, as the First Minister has pointed out, he had huge pride in occupying that position and wanted this institution to succeed. We, as a country, owe him a great debt of gratitude for the way, as the former Presiding Officer has highlighted previously, he stabilised a ship, along with others, when this institution’s future wasn’t secured and there was a huge question mark. We are fortunate that he was there at the helm, working with others, to make sure that devolution did turn in to a permanent part of our democracy and permanent part of our country here in Wales.

I well remember the times when he would be in here as First Minister, very often not quite on his own on the Government bench, but he would start First Minister’s questions quite happily standing there with a handful of colleagues around. It was a different time in those days, in 2007, 2008, and he would give you a very detailed answer. He would give you an answer that you might disagree with, but you understood where he was coming from and where the Government came from. The other thing that struck me, as a new Member to this institution, was, in particular, the way he engaged with the proceedings of the Assembly—how we would sit in Plenary here, with papers in front of him, working through those papers, and his House of Commons background would very often come out, because, all of a sudden, you’d think he wouldn’t be listening and all of a sudden there would be that barracking from the First Minister’s chair, which as a new Member you certainly felt a little deflated about, to be honest with you. [Laughter.] But most probably—from my perspective, anyway, as a young farmer, through their debating societies—I got used to that.

I well remember, then, how he moved to the back benches, and I might be wrong, but I think he occupied the seat that Julie sits in today—perhaps Labour’s business manager could confirm that, but I think it’s roughly there. Again, he wasn’t a First Minister who just went to the back benches and sat quietly—he engaged, he had that thirst and he had that appetite for life that could be an inspiration to us all, I would suggest.

I don’t for one minute profess to have been a friend of Rhodri, in the personal nature that many of the front bench here and the Labour benches will indicate, no doubt, in their tributes, but I feel hugely privileged, and I’m sure Members of my group feel hugely privileged, that we were able to call Rhodri a political friend and a political acquaintance. The First Minister touched on the point about how he would calm people when they met him, he would put them at their ease, and he always showed an interest in people by picking up their name.

When I came home from the leader’s debate—and I am grateful to the First Minister who very kindly rang immediately after the First Minister’s debate to inform me of the tragic news, like I know he informed the other leaders—I was speaking to my wife afterwards, and she remembers a function that we attended. For most wives or husbands who are attending with their respective spouses in the political world, those types of events are very often regarded with horror, because you’re being thrown to the wolves very often. [Laughter.] Rhodri sat by Julia at this particular luncheon that we were attending, put her completely at her ease and was genuinely enthused by what she was doing, wanting to know about the things in life that she was interested in—likewise, obviously, Julia was asking him the questions back. But that was Rhodri—he could put you at your ease, he could understand what you were talking about and he could also offer you an answer and a perspective on life that encapsulated the man he was. He was just a thoroughly decent, honourable, upright individual. We are as a country extremely, extremely fortunate that we had a man of such calibre at the outset of devolution, taking the chair, steadying the ship and putting us on the journey we’re on.

As I did when I opened my remarks, I close by again reinforcing our condolences to Julie and the rest of the family. The loss must be huge, but, hopefully, with the passage of time, the grief that you feel will be put to one side with the many happy and warm memories that you will have of, indeed, a great man.

I call on the leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood.

Diolch, Llywydd. On behalf of Plaid Cymru, I’d like to express my condolences to Julie and the family, and to fellow party members, colleagues and everyone who knew Rhodri Morgan. I’m sure everyone who knew him had fond memories of him, not only as a leader of the country but as a person of kindness, humour and warmth. Many of us in this Chamber worked with him when he was First Minister. My memory is of a leader who was always willing to engage. He was quick thinking, he was a real character and he was a patriot. He was willing to listen to others whilst setting out his own view and his own vision for Wales.

The phrase ‘man of the people’ is used a lot in politics, but with Rhodri it is well deserved. He was well known and popular with working people and with people outside of his own party. He was a politician who people could relate to. He had a dry and memorable sense of humour, but, beyond his personality, those people who were close to him can also be very proud of his political legacy.

Rhodri Morgan led this nation in the early years of devolution—in those difficult precarious times. He formed the first coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats and later governed alongside my party in the One Wales Government from 2007 to 2011. Those were really important steps in the early years of our democracy.

Rhodri proved that Wales could unite, that devolution could see multiple parties exercise political power and that we could all work together jointly. Through his tenure as First Minister of this nation he ensured that the foundations of devolution were cemented to ensure that it would outlast his time as First Minister.

It was under his leadership of the country that this Assembly took its first steps away from Westminster in terms of public policy. Doing things differently in a unique Welsh way was part of Rhodri’s political mantra. He will be well remembered for his ‘clear red water’. Rhodri’s way struck a chord with people across all of the parties and none and resonated with those who had initially been sceptical about devolution. As Assembly Members, we still benefit from that legacy today. Without Rhodri Morgan, you could argue that we wouldn’t be on the cusp of assuming greater responsibilities as an institution.

I’ll close my remarks with an observation. When asked in 2008 about this country’s greatest achievement since devolution, he answered that it was our growing sense of confidence and our willingness to make our own decisions. Without Rhodri Morgan Wales wouldn’t be the country that it is today.

Diolch o galon, Rhodri Morgan. Cwsg mewn hedd.

I call on the leader of the UKIP group, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch, Llywydd. I would like, on behalf of my group and my party, also to repeat the condolences, which have been given to Julie and other members of Rhodri’s family.

I overlapped in the House of Commons with Rhodri for 10 years, from 1987 to 1997 and despite our political differences, Rhodri was an engaging and genial companion who always had time to talk. He was a gentle man and a gentleman. I warmed to him because it was immediately clear that, whilst fiercely loyal to his own party, he was always going to be his own man and a fully paid-up member of the awkward squad. Just as important, he was adamantine in his devotion to the fundamental decencies of life and politics.

As a sincere person himself, he was always able to accept the sincerity of others. He bore no personal rancour towards anyone, even those whose opinions diverged radically from his. Unlike some, he never believed that democratic debate was improved by personal abuse and mud-slinging. He was broadminded enough to recognise that people can be equally sincere in their desire to do good even though they may differ fundamentally in their political prescriptions. He was part of that strand of socialist thinking, which in Morgan Phillips’s words owed more to Methodism than to Marx. But Rhodri was a nonconformist in a general sense: his unruly hair being a metaphor for his sturdy refusal to be controlled by anything other than his own conscience.

His obituary in ‘The Daily Telegraph’ described him as

‘Off-message Labour MP…who defied Tony Blair to become First Minister’.

And he was deeply disappointed in 1997 when Tony Blair failed to offer him a ministerial post. But in retrospect, he might have agreed that Blair did him a favour, as Martin Shipton has written:

‘What it really amounted to was that Rhodri—while certainly no wild man of the left—was the antithesis of the technochratic type of politician that Blair favoured.’

As a loyal party man he sublimated his personal disappointment and used the freedom of the backbenches to throw himself enthusiastically into the campaign for the establishment of this National Assembly. In consequence, he has been rightly dubbed as the father of Welsh devolution, not only for his role in the original referendum campaign but also his 10 years as First Minister. And he did as much as anyone to establish this Assembly as a permanent feature of Welsh life, confounding the initial scepticism of people like me. It may not be the strongest argument in his favour to say that without him I wouldn’t be here today, but who can deny that this forum for the vigorous clash of opinions will be his lasting memorial.

In the Assembly election campaign last year, Rhodri and I made a tv programme for S4C, and like all men in their anecdotage we entertained each other with stories of the old days in the House of Commons and the characters who had crossed our paths. Always his own man, he announced his surprise decision to resign as First Minister on his seventieth birthday and he said,

‘There’s never a right time to go’— better not to outstay his welcome. Well, he may have been right about that then, but at only 77 years old this is certainly not the right time for him to go finally, and Wales is much the poorer for his untimely departure. As a selfless public servant he was universally respected across the political spectrum and loved as the warmest of human beings by legions of people he encountered in all walks of life. Dr Johnson said that

‘In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.’

But I can truly say that Rhodri was one of the most admirable men I’ve had the pleasure to know in half a century of public life, and it’s an honour to walk in his shadow.

I now call on Kirsty Williams to speak on behalf of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. We will hear much today, I suspect, about Rhodri as one of the ‘gwerin’—one of us—and that is, was, indisputably true. But we must also recognise that he stood out and he stood taller than us as well—as a politician, as a leader, as a father figure and friend to those of us from the class of 1999 and in the communities across Wales.

Now, many of the tributes have talked about his personality as being distinct from his skills as a politician. I think that they were very much one and the same. Robert Kennedy described politics as the most honourable profession. I know that Rhodri would have agreed—actually, second only perhaps to playing fly half for Wales—but to be a politician, committed to ideals and to values, and representing community and country is an honourable profession that one should not apologise for.

There was great honour in the leadership that he brought to this place, and to the very notion of Welsh self-government. Those of us here back in those awkward few months and years of Welsh democracy, we will always remember and be thankful for the skill and the steadiness that he brought to this institution and to the role of First Minister. Those skills came from his very nature as a person. Everyone here will have a story or two, or three, or four, or five, about a Rhodri anecdote, but it will never be as many as the stories, facts and tales that Rhodri had about every village, town, rugby team, sporting occasion—he was always great company.

He showed me great professional and personal kindness. As we’ve already heard, he was an intensely proud family man, but he was also interested in your family. He always had time to ask me about my girls, and just like Julia, my husband, Richard, is often a reluctant participant in some of the formal events in which I demand his presence. But Rhodri always had time for him, always wanting to know about the cattle and the lambing season. When my mother passed away, he wrote not only to me but he wrote to my late father. My father couldn’t believe that the First Minister of Wales had taken the time to write to him about his loss. He was a decent, decent man.

On behalf of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, me personally and my family, my greatest sympathy, Julie, to you and to yours.

Jane Hutt.

Rhodri was my friend, he was my leader when he was first Minister and he was also my constituent; we shared a great enthusiasm for the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan. And Rhodri always found time to campaign with me, but he also loved his local walks, swimming in the sea with Julie at Whitmore bay, and one memory from a friend this week of Rhodri spending time with her two young boys on Bendricks beach in Barry, entertaining them on the subject of dinosaur footprints—[Laughter.]—but most recently, enjoying the produce from his garden—Carwyn’s already mentioned it—a very special Spanish omelette made with the eggs from his latest batch of chickens bought at Riverside market. I also remembering visiting Dinas Powys Primary School on Fairtrade day and meeting Jaidem, Rhodri and Julie’s grandson. Now, Jaidem is a member of the school’s eco committee, and he was holding up this huge Fairtrade banana with his friends for the photos—very knowledgeable, of course, on Fairtrade issues.

So, knowing Rhodri and Julie as close friends, with shared political commitments, does take me back a long time—it takes me back to the early 1980s when I visited him when he was head of the European office in Wales, and I was asking him for help with European funding for the South Glamorgan Women’s Workshop. Well, he set to work straightaway, secured the funding and that workshop opened in 1984, with a crèche, training women in IT skills and electronics—widely questioned at the time for being women-only. But, of course, Rhodri backed us all the way and 35 years later, thousands of women and children have benefited from that workshop. Always a champion for women’s rights; thank you, Rhodri.

We worked together on the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign, which took us both into the Assembly and into Government as ministerial colleagues. Within a year, he was First Minister for nearly a decade. Much has been made and said of Rhodri’s capacity to absorb detail, but it’s also very important to remember that he was always looking to the long term, to the big policy ideas that could move Wales forward.

So, when I was health and social services Minister, he made it clear that he was as concerned with social services as he was with health, and with public health as much as the NHS. He ensured that we got the legislation to appoint the first Children’s Commissioner for Wales in 2001. Looked-after children in Voices from Care knew he was listening as he responded to the Waterhouse report.

Of course, those were tough times in our early days, as has been said: £1.9 billion health budget compared with over £7 billion now. But, we didn’t do PFI, we brought in free prescriptions and Rhodri opened our prestigious Swansea graduate medical school—and how proud he was to be chancellor of Swansea University. He was passionate about our health service, supporting primary care, but also championing those outstanding scientists who put Wales at the forefront of medical research. The impact of his decision to appoint the chief scientific advisers for Wales has been so significant.

Again, his contribution to education has been distinctive, backing the foundation phase, recognising the importance of investing in the early years, bringing higher education to the Valleys, and launching the transformational twenty-first century school building programme.

Today, the horrific terror attack in Manchester is at the forefront of our thoughts, and we must remember Rhodri’s swift response, as First Minister, to 9/11 and 7/7, bringing together all the faith leaders in a forum to establish new relationships, which endure through thick and thin to this day. Julie and I attended a deeply moving gathering on Sunday at the Hindu community centre, with contributions from ethnic minority organisations and faith leaders—many are here today. The message was that Rhodri had reached out, he’d listened and he took action. Much has been said about Rhodri’s capacity and ability to relate to people every day, everywhere he went in Wales, but he was also a man who looked out to the wider world. Wales for Africa is a shining example of that, as we’ll see on Africa Day, celebrated in the Senedd this Thursday.

So, Rhodri Morgan was a truly exceptional man who has made an indelible mark on Wales. He was a uniquely gifted politician with the greatest integrity and compassion. I’ve been so fortunate to know and work with him, as a truly inspiring leader who defined the meaning and importance of devolution for Wales, whilst crafting a distinctive identity for Welsh Labour. Now, we must learn together from his life, his legacy as a great and enduring friend to Wales. Diolch, Rhodri.

Extraordinary, inspirational, genuine, brilliant, original, unique: all adjectives that have been used to describe Rhodri in the hundreds of tributes I’ve read over the past few days, each one an accurate description of him. I met both Julie and Rhodri 20 years ago in the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign. I then worked on Rhodri’s two leadership campaigns back in 1998 and 1999, the history of which is very well known. However, Rhodri absolutely believed his time would come, often quoting one of his beloved sporting analogies, ‘Three tries for a Welshman’, which indeed turned out to be the case. When he became First Minister in February 2000, he ensured devolution—still very much in its infancy—worked for everyone in Wales, by steadying the ship and providing exceptional leadership. Devolution will be his political legacy. Without him, it would have been a much more difficult journey.

I was privileged to be elected by the people of Wrexham to serve under Rhodri in 2007. Rhodri and Julie really encouraged me to put myself forward to be an elected representative. So, I owe him a great deal and I will never forget his personal support and encouragement over the last two decades. I often sought his advice and wisdom, and I remember, during one particularly unpleasant day during an election campaign, when opponents were hurling personal insults, that he heard about this and rang me to tell me to rise above it and remember that politics was about playing the ball and not the man—yet another sporting analogy.

Even though I am still shocked and saddened at his sudden death, it is not possible to think of Rhodri for long without remembering a story to make you smile. And there are so many of those stories to provide comfort at this time. On his many visits to Wrexham, he often called at my house to see us. One Sunday, he had been to meet with individuals affected by severe flooding and arrived hoping to have a roast Sunday lunch before heading home to south Wales. However, it was my daughter’s sixth birthday, so no Sunday lunch was on offer, just a chaotic house, and, typically, he rolled up his sleeves, helped prepare for the birthday party and cleaned the kitchen afterwards.

Colleagues who were here pre 2011 will remember, as Carwyn said, that Rhodri chose never to switch his computer on whilst he was First Minister. Someone would do it for him and he simply pressed the buttons to vote. However, following his retirement as First Minister, he decided that he really needed to start sending e-mails. On the Friday after he stepped down, he e-mailed me congratulating me on my appointment as a Deputy Minister, telling me that this was the first e-mail he’d ever sent and I should treasure it.

On our return after the Christmas recess, Rhodri sat directly behind me in the Chamber, and often used to ask me, in a very loud whisper, did I fancy a cuppa, much to the consternation of the then Presiding Officer. So, I decided to show him how to use the messaging system we have in the Chamber and he then decided that I should be his 24/7 ICT support—a job I was really happy to do, as it was the first thing I’d ever been able to do better than him.

Rhodri was down to earth, with no airs and graces, truly a man of the people, and passionate about Wales and her people. It didn’t matter which village, town or city in Wales that you visited with him, he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of that place, and invariably spoke to people, finding a cousin or an old family friend. He made everyone feel comfortable and at ease and that’s why he was such a popular politician, known everywhere just by his first name. His loss is felt by so many people, which was emphasised to me on a visit to Wrexham Maelor Hospital last Thursday, when six people, none of whom I knew, just stopped me on the corridor to tell me that they felt they’d lost a friend, even though they’d never met him.

It was a pleasure to be in his company and listen to his stories. He was always happy to share his vast wisdom and knowledge with you. I valued his friendship and will miss him greatly. But of course his top priority in life was his family, to whom he was devoted. Mine and my daughter’s thoughts are with Julie and all his family at this incredibly difficult time. Thank you for everything, Rhodri. Sleep well, comrade.

As chair of the Welsh Conservative party group and the only Member first elected in 1999, it is my sad honour to make this tribute.

Devolution was a shaky structure when Rhodri became First Minister in February 2000. Only narrowly endorsed by the electorate, it lacked decisive leadership and had not created a stable Government. Rhodri provided the energy and vision that devolution needed to succeed in Wales. He was a tough opponent, and I think we should be candid in recognising this. But, as was said of Churchill, any anger was like lightening—bright, decisive and quickly passing. While his powerful memory was rightly famous, it did not extend to bearing political grudges, and we all know what a rare quality and a generosity of heart that is. For the heart of Rhodri’s vision was that Wales must become a political nation to match and advance its cultural and historical achievements, and all our great political traditions have a part in that, which he nobly recognised.

When Rhodri stepped down as First Minister, devolution was constitutionally embedded and about to receive a two-thirds majority in a referendum for primary law-making powers. Rhodri’s service to the Welsh nation will be seen as the greatest of his generation of politicians. And it was a service that was supported and sustained by a long and happy marriage. I extend my deepest sympathies and those of my colleagues to Julie and the whole family.

I started to knock doors, persuading the citizens of Cardiff West to vote for Rhodri Morgan in the famous victory in 1987, when the constituency overturned the only aberration in its history to return to the hands of the Labour Party. I heard him speaking publicly for the last time just a fortnight ago, reliving the excitement of that campaign and the start of a 30-year relationship with communities across Cardiff West.

Because, if the name of Rhodri Morgan was new to many in 1987, it didn’t stay like that for too long as he fought against the barrage; the response to the Ely riots, as they were described in 1990; in fighting against the quango state—the producer and director of that famous Welsh film, ‘Last Quango in Powys’, as I heard him refer to it so often. By 1992, what used to be a marginal seat was now firmly in the grasp of Rhodri Morgan. Not that that was the result of anything but hard work—the weekly surgeries, the public meetings, the community engagements. Perhaps he was becoming more prominent on the national stage, but wherever he was needed locally, Rhodri was there.

Llywydd, yn y dyddiau hynny yn hanner cyntaf y 1990au, roedd Jane Hutt a minnau yn gynghorwyr sir dros ward Glan yr afon yng Ngorllewin Caerdydd. Sue Essex a Jane Davidson oedd cynghorwyr y ddinas dros ardal Glan yr Afon. Byddem yn cynnal cymorthfeydd stryd wythnosol, yn dosbarthu taflenni, gan ofyn i breswylwyr eu rhoi yn eu ffenestri os oeddent yn dymuno i ni alw. Unwaith bob mis neu ddau byddai Rhodri yn ymuno â ni. Byddem yn dosbarthu taflen arbennig yn hysbysebu presenoldeb yr Aelod Seneddol lleol. Yn hytrach na'r tair neu bedair taflen arferol, byddai dwsin o daflenni yn ffenestri pobl. Byddai Rhodri yn diflannu i’r tŷ cyntaf. Byddai Sue, Jane neu finnau yn mynd yn ein blaenau i alw ym mhob un o'r un ar ddeg tŷ arall, ac roedd pob un ohonyn nhw’n siomedig o’n gweld ni, a phob un ohonyn nhw’n gobeithio gweld Rhodri. Dri chwarter awr yn ddiweddarach, byddem yn dychwelyd i'r tŷ cyntaf. Dyna lle byddai Aelod Seneddol Gorllewin Caerdydd, plât o bice ar y maen, dau gwpanaid o de a thri chefnder cyffredin wedi eu darganfod. Roedden nhw’n meddwl ei fod yn wych. Ac wrth gwrs, roedden nhw’n iawn.

Does dim syndod felly, erbyn adeg etholiad cyffredinol 1997 ac etholiadau cyntaf y Cynulliad yn 1999, fod pleidleiswyr Gorllewin Caerdydd wedi ailethol Rhodri Morgan gyda mwyafrif yr wyf yn cofio dweud wrtho ar y pryd y byddai Albania yn genfigennus ohono—un o'r ychydig wledydd yn Ewrop, nododd wedyn, lle nad oedd ganddo berthynas neu gysylltiadau gwleidyddol eisoes. Erbyn 2001, gyda chynrychiolaeth seneddol Gorllewin Caerdydd wedi ei throsglwyddo’n ddiogel i’w gyfaill agos a’i gynghorydd, Kevin Brennan, gŵr y gwn sydd yma y prynhawn yma, roedd Rhodri yn rhydd i ganolbwyntio ar gydbwyso dim ond y gofynion gwleidyddol o fod yn Brif Weinidog Cymru gyfan, a'r egni ffyrnig a roddai i gynrychioli unigolion a chymunedau yn ei etholaeth ei hun. Parhaodd y berthynas ymhell y tu hwnt i’w ymddeoliad ffurfiol yn 2011.

Mae curo ar ddrysau yn ystod y dyddiau diwethaf yng Ngorllewin Caerdydd, Llywydd, wedi bod yn broses araf a phoenus. Roedd llawer o ddagrau, a llawer o chwerthin, wrth i gartref ar ôl cartref adrodd ei stori ei hun am Rhodri Morgan. Llywydd, oherwydd imi dreulio'r rhan fwyaf o ddegawd yn gweithio gyda nifer fach o bobl a oedd yn swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog—Lawrence Conway, Rose Stewart—yn ystod y blynyddoedd cyntaf hynny o ddatganoli, roeddwn i eisiau terfynu drwy ddweud rhywbeth yn fyr am amser Rhodri yn y swydd. Rydych chi wedi clywed y stori heddiw am y dyddiau cynnar anodd hynny, sut gwnaeth sefydlogi’r prosiect datganoli a'i osod ar y cwrs y bu arno byth ers hynny. Mae'n anodd ychwanegu rhywbeth newydd at yr hanes sylfaenol hwnnw. Ond yr hyn yr oeddwn i eisiau ei ddweud y prynhawn yma oedd hyn: o dan yr wyneb disglair, o dan y gallu hwnnw i siarad ag unrhyw un am unrhyw beth, roedd diben gwleidyddol hynod ddifrifol: creu’r sefydliad hwn, rhoi'r grym yn nwylo pobl Cymru i benderfynu ar faterion sy'n effeithio arnyn nhw yn unig, ymgorffori datganoli ym mhob rhan o Gymru. Dywedodd Rhodri y byddai’r Cadfridog de Gaulle yn cwyno ei bod hi’n amhosibl llywodraethu gwlad oedd â mwy na 2,000 o gawsiau, ac fe gafodd yntau’r holl bethau hynny’n hawdd. Yn fuan iawn byddai’r Senedd, fel y’i gelwid hi, yn Senedd yng ngwir ystyr y gair, yn sefydliad gyda phwerau deddfu llawn, gwahaniad priodol rhwng y Weithrediaeth a'r ddeddfwriaeth, ac, yn bennaf oll, lle diogel ym meddyliau a dyheadau dinasyddion Cymru: mor wahanol yw hyn i fis Mai 2000 yn nyddiau cynharaf Rhodri Morgan o fod yn Brif Weinidog, ac oherwydd mai Rhodri Morgan oedd y Prif Weinidog.

Llywydd, mae datganoli yn brosiect nad oes ganddo hanes. Mae pob un ohonom ni sy’n rhan ohono wedi bod yn rhan o’i greu. Yn anochel, mae llawer o'r hyn yr ydym yn ei wynebu yn bethau yr ydym yn dod ar eu traws am y tro cyntaf. Mae colli cyn Brif Weinidog a chyfaill yn un o’r digwyddiadau hynny’n union. Mae'n ein cyffwrdd i’r byw ac rydym ni’n cael trafferth i ymateb. Ond fe allwn ni fod yn sicr o un peth: heb Rhodri Morgan, byddai’r siwrnai honno yr ydym i gyd wedi bod arni wedi bod yn wahanol iawn, ac yn llawer, llawer anoddach.

Thank you for the opportunity to pay tribute to Rhodri in the Senedd today, and, of course, in the presence of Julie, who formed such a strong partnership with Rhodri over so many years, in marriage and politically. It was a privilege, Llywydd, to serve with Rhodri in the Assembly, and indeed in Government, and I’m very grateful to Rhodri for giving me my first opportunities as a member of his Governments. To work with him was a pleasure. His commitment to socialism, Wales, and devolution, and his lively sense of humour, made it a great pleasure.

I well remember, in his early days as First Secretary, Rhodri speaking at so many events in the Assembly, in the Bay, round and about, on a very wide variety of matters, and always displaying that breadth and depth of interest and knowledge that made, I think, all of us very proud that we had such a First Minister. And that was certainly well in evidence at an international gathering of leading figures that I recall in the Celtic Manor, when Rhodri gave a tour de force on the history and culture of Wales, and so many people came up to me and others from the Assembly afterwards and said that we must be very proud to have a leader with that depth of knowledge in terms of Wales’s history and culture.

Accompanying Rhodri to visits in steel plants in Newport East was a very interesting experience. Everybody there, with decades of experience in the steel industry, was so impressed by Rhodri’s interest and his knowledge of industrial processes and products, and I know that wasn’t only true of the steel industry. It was true of so many visits to different sectors that made up, and make up, our economy in Wales. And when he occasionally came along to Newport Gwent Dragons’ rugby games—not when they were playing Cardiff Blues, but other opponents, such as Munster, that I remember—he was a huge hit on the terraces because of his passion, his very obvious passion, for rugby and, indeed, sport in general, and his vocal support and willingness to engage in banter around Cardiff Blues and Newport Gwent Dragons and their different merits and results and successes. And, of course, on the streets and doorsteps, Rhodri was just incredibly popular, and, as so many have already said today, and as has been said so many times outside this Chamber, he had such an entirely natural and genuine ability to relate to people from so many different backgrounds.

Llywydd, I think it’s clear that Rhodri’s place in history is secure—getting the Assembly up and running and established, giving it credibility, profile and popularity, and shaping post-devolution politics in Wales and Welsh Labour politics on to that territory that we are now so familiar with: left of centre, designed for Wales, clear red water.

Rhodri Morgan was born to be First Minister, not only because he had the names Rhodri and Hywel, but because of his character and personality. It wasn’t apparent to his own party on two occasions, but, at the third attempt, as Lesley Griffiths has reminded us—three tries for a Welshman—he became leader of a party, an Assembly, a Government and a nation. We needed someone in the early days of devolution who would encapsulate in his personality the nature and quality of devolution, and Rhodri was that individual. The concept of devolution was vague. It was difficult to understand what it meant for the person in the street, in the shop, the surgery or the school, but everyone could turn to Rhodri Morgan and fully understand that this is what devolution is—our own leader.

When Rhodri Morgan spoke of ‘clear red water’, he was aiming his comments at his own party, yes, but they were important words for the whole nation. They gave people who were cool about devolution permission to embrace it, saying, ‘Yes, you can be British, a devolutionist, a nationalist, and still be part of the Labour family’. In simple words, he encapsulated the complexities and the benefits of devolution.

I have no doubt that we wouldn’t be meeting today as a Parliament with full powers if it weren’t for Rhodri Morgan. Others and other parties played a full part too, but Rhodri’s commitment to the agreement made in the One Wales Government to call and to campaign for a referendum for a full Parliament was always solid and robust. That was true, strong leadership. It was a pleasure and, as the First Minister told us, it was often a lesson, for me to work for him during that time.

I will allow others who were more friend than colleague, as I was, to talk more about his unkempt appearance and his hair at times—and the fact I remember that someone had to go a long way to fetch a pair of decent shoes for him to appear at a conference. I will just say that this was his character and his personality. It’s what kept his feet on the ground, and it was not something that was created to hide the true personality, as we find with some politicians and some others.

Roeddwn i yn adnabod Julie yn dda cyn i mi adnabod Rhodri, gan y buom ni’n gweithio sawl blwyddyn yn ôl yn y sector gwirfoddol yng Nghymru, ac roeddwn i hefyd yn adnabod Julie fel Aelod Seneddol yn San Steffan. Hoffwn gyfleu fy nghydymdeimlad dwysaf ar fy rhan fy hun, ac ar ran fy nheulu hefyd, i Julie a'i theulu. Gadawodd hi a Rhodri farc annileadwy arna i ac ar fy nheulu hefyd, oherwydd, yn fy nyddiau cynnar yn San Steffan, wrth siarad â Julie, cefais ar ddeall fod gan Rhodri a Julie le cyfrinachol iawn, lle a oedd yn fy etholaeth i bryd hynny, sef carafán ym Mwnt. Roedd hyn yn swnio'n syniad hyfryd o ramantus, ond, yn bwysicach, roedd yn swnio fel yr hyn oedd yn cadw Rhodri a Julie a phawb arall yn gall a dynol mewn bywyd o wleidyddiaeth. Felly, o fewn blwyddyn, roedd gen i fy ngharafán fy hun ar arfordir Ceredigion, er fy mod yn byw yn Aberystwyth. [Chwerthin.] Mae hynny wedi cadw fy nhraed ar y ddaear, a’m cadw yn ddynol a chall, gobeithio. Rwy'n gobeithio y bydd arfordir Ceredigion yn dod â llawer o atgofion melys i chi am Rhodri a'r amser a dreuliasoch ym Mwnt ac am eich teulu yn y fan honno hefyd.

As one who studied Welsh at university, I did know Rhodri Morgan’s father, T.J. Morgan, who was a scholar and is well known to anyone who’s studied the Welsh language. He was also a master of the ‘ysgrif’, which is a particular type of Welsh prose, which takes that minor issue and expresses its huge importance, and Rhodri Morgan himself was a master of that art, although he did it orally, rather than on paper.

But I did get hold of a collection of essays by Rhodri Morgan’s father, T.J. Morgan, and read it over the weekend to remind me of the humour and the ability to have broad-ranging interests that Rhodri also inherited. And this quote struck me. T.J. Morgan, Rhodri Morgan’s father, talks about ‘arddel’, and Rhodri Morgan would always make that connection and emphasise the importance of espousing where one was from, where one’s family is from, and everything else. He says of the name ‘Morgan’: that Morgan who gave his name to Glamorgan is too vague, and there are too many Morgans in Glamorgan and throughout south Wales generally, for one family to take the name as their inherited right. That may be so, but through his work and his contribution, Rhodri Morgan claimed the whole of Wales and made it Glamorgan.

I, and my family, as many have done today, extend our deepest condolences to Julie and all her family in what is a difficult time, but I hope some of the tributes today have been of great solace to her and her family. Former First Minister Rhodri Morgan appeared in person to give evidence to our committee only two weeks ago, for the inquiry ‘A stronger voice for Wales’, and he demonstrated, as always, his enduring commitment to devolution, but also his passion and his intellect, and his warmth and his wit and his wisdom, built on years of experience serving the people of Wales.

But, in my brief remarks today, I want to recall fond personal memories of Rhodri: the warm and engaging Rhodri who people loved because they sensed it was genuinely reciprocated. When I was a Labour branch secretary many, many years ago, it was Rhodri who turned up on a sun-kissed May Day rally on the streets of Ystalyfera, holding up the traffic for 20 minutes outside Nesta’s newsagents, then striding down the streets with a band playing and the miners’ lodge banners flying, and then Rhodri speaking from the back of my father-in-law’s flatbed truck to crowds on the rugby field, and then, as always, being mobbed by people who all just wanted to say ‘hi’ to their Rhodri—and it was in the day before selfies.

Being mobbed was an occupational hazard for Rhodri, as I discovered later as a Member of Parliament. My task in one Assembly election was to try and help chaperone Rhodri around Caerphilly town centre. We struggled to make headway, as everyone—simply everyone—wanted to talk politics or rugby or simply say ‘hello’, as if they had discovered a long-lost relative. And Rhodri loved talking too, knowing family connections of every other person and the intimate history of every street in every community.

And what other First Minister or senior statesman would risk all to attend a local charity fundraiser in Dylan’s in my hometown of Maesteg, at which a long-time friend of Rhodri’s was performing live on stage? During the act, Rhodri accepted an invitation to go up on stage to take part. It was quite an unusual act. So, we all watched with growing concern as Rhodri duly lay himself down on a bed of six-inch nails, and, for added relish, allowed the performer to walk across him. The headlines were writing themselves in my troubled mind.

Personally, and I know I won’t be alone in this, I will remember the selfless way in which he encouraged me and others to take up the mantle of public service and to stand for election. I can honestly say that I would not have done so without his gentle but persuasive persistence that this was a noble calling worth pursuing, and, importantly, he also persuaded my wife that I should. I’ve never regretted it, not least because I, and others, continue to look up to people like Rhodri as role models of lifelong public service in Westminster and here in Wales.

To scale the political heights as he did, yet to retain the common touch with such ease, shows the measure of the man and the friend we have lost. His legacy is great and enduring. Rhodri Morgan was a true servant of Wales and a true friend to everyone he knew.

First of all, Julie, it is so typical of you and of Rhodri that you should be with us in your place today. And we thank you for being here, because it enables us to address you warmly, as I do on the part of my own long-standing, and Mair’s, friendship with you and the family, going back so many years.

Fe weithiais i y tro cyntaf gyda Rhodri Morgan pan gafodd o ei ethol i Dŷ’r Cyffredin yn Aelod Seneddol Gorllewin Caerdydd yn 1987. Ond roedd ganddo fo brofiad helaeth cyn ei fod o wedi dod yn Aelod Seneddol. Mae’n bwysig sôn am ei ysgolheictod o, ac, yn wir, ysgolheictod y teulu—fel rydym ni wedi ei glywed yn barod. Oherwydd rwyf innau wedi bod yn gyfaill i’w frawd, Prys, a gyda choffa da iawn am ei dad, oherwydd yr oedd o yn sefyll ben ac ysgwydd ymhlith ysgolheigion llenyddiaeth Gymraeg yn y 1960au i rywun fel fi a oedd yn fyfyriwr, oherwydd ei fod o’n darlithio yn llawer iawn mwy diddorol na’r gweddill ohonyn nhw. Ac roedd y ddawn honno, yn sicr, gan Rhodri.

Roedd Rhodri yn ysgolhaig ei hun, yn raddedig o Rydychen, ac o Harvard, wedi bod yn ymchwilydd mewn llywodraeth ganol a lleol, yn ymgynghorydd economaidd i’r Adran Masnach a Diwydiant, yn swyddog datblygu De Morgannwg, ac yn bennaeth, fel y clywsom ni, swyddfa’r Gymuned Ewropeaidd. Rwy’n ei gofio fo’n dod i Dŷ’r Cyffredin, ac roeddwn i’n synnu at ei allu fo i sicrhau dyrchafiad mor gyflym. Wrth gwrs, roeddwn i wedi bod yn rhyw fath o Aelod mainc cefn, ac yn rhyw arweinydd annigonol i blaid dipyn bach yn llai. Ond mi fuodd o, fel y cofiwn ni, yn San Steffan yn llefarydd swyddogol ar yr amgylchedd i’r wrthblaid, ar ynni, ac, wrth gwrs, ar faterion Cymreig. A dyna pryd y gosodwyd seiliau cynlluniau datganoli 1997.

Ac yna, yr weithred olaf, efallai, yn San Steffan, oedd bod yn gadeirydd y Pwyllgor Dethol ar Weinyddiaeth Gyhoeddus. Mae’n bwysig i ni ddweud am gyfraniad Rhodri fel seneddwr yn y Deyrnas Unedig nad rhyw fath o ‘maverick’ oedd y dyn yma. Roedd yn seneddwr dawnus, a oedd yn gallu defnyddio holl sgiliau’r Senedd i ddrysu’r Llywodraeth. Rwy’n cofio’n dda iawn am yr orfodaeth filwrol, bron, a oedd arnom ni i wrthwynebu morglawdd Bae Caerdydd, a Rhodri, wrth gwrs, a oedd y tu ôl i hynny i gyd.

Ac yna, pan ddaeth o yma—wel, fel rydych chi’n ei wybod, gallwn eich cadw chi yma drwy’r dydd am y 10 mlynedd hyfryd o berthynas a gefais i fel Llywydd cynta’r Cynulliad hwn gyda’r Prif Weinidog cyntaf, oherwydd fe oedd y dyn a greodd y swydd iddo fe’i hunan. Ac roedd y digwyddiad hwnnw, efallai, yn un y caf i eich atgoffa chi ohono fo cyn i fi gloi y prynhawn yma. Roedd hi tua un o’r gloch y prynhawn, ac ar yr adeg honno, rwy’n credu bod y Cynulliad yn cwrdd am hanner awr wedi dau—yn yr hen Siambr, wrth gwrs. Roedd y neges wedi dod bod Rhodri Morgan eisiau newid ei enw a theitl ei swydd. Ac yna, wrth gwrs, rhoddodd wybod i’r Llywydd ar y pryd, a dywedodd o mai’r teitl oedd ‘First Minister’ yn Saesneg.

Ond wedyn, dyma’r glo mân yn dod miwn, fel y byddwn ni’n ei ddweud yn nhafodiaith y gorllewin. Beth oedd y cyfieithiad Cymraeg cywir o ‘First Minister’? Oherwydd roedd yna ryw gyfieithydd, na wnaf i ei henwi—nid yw hi’n gweithio yn y lle hwn bellach—a oedd wedi cyfieithu ‘First Minister’ fel ‘Gweinidog Cyntaf’. Wrth gwrs, yn anaml iawn yn ei fywyd y mae rhywun yn teimlo bod ganddo fo awdurdod ar unrhyw bwnc, ond roeddwn i’n gwybod mai’r ‘Gweinidog Cyntaf’ oedd y gweinidog cyntaf a ddaeth i’r capel, ac wedyn daeth gweinidog wedyn, a gweinidog arall. Ac mi geisiais i esbonio:

‘We have two ways of saying these things in Welsh. There is primacy in terms of seriality, and there is real primacy. So, there is only one translation of this.’

‘First Minister’ yn Gymraeg yw ‘Prif Weinidog Cymru’. Chwarter awr cyn i’r Cynulliad eistedd, dyma’r e-bost yn dod, a’r neges yn dod nôl bod y Prif Weinidog yn derbyn yn llawen y bydd o’n cael ei alw’n ‘First Minister’ yn Saesneg a ‘Prif Weinidog Cymru’ yn Gymraeg. Fi oedd y person cyntaf yn y bydysawd i ddefnyddio’r geiriau ‘Prif Weinidog Cymru’. Ac rwy’n cofio fy mod i wedi trio ei siarad o bach yn ‘sotto voce’, fel bod neb yn cynhyrfu. Ond wrth gwrs, mae yna wastad un i gael. So, dyma Rhodri Glyn ar ei draed, wrth gwrs, ar bwynt o drefn, i ofyn i’r Llywydd beth oedd y teitl newydd yma, ac a oedd e’n wirioneddol yn ‘Brif Weinidog Cymru’. Wel, fe ddaeth Rhodri Morgan yn wirioneddol Brif Weinidog Cymru, ac fe ges i 10 mlynedd o bleser pur. Nid oeddem ni byth yn cwympo mas. Nid fy mod i’n argymell y dylai Llywyddion a Phrif Weinidogion gwympo mas, ond roedd e wedi digwydd o’r blaen, ac fe allai fe ddigwydd mewn llefydd eraill. Ond roedd Rhodri yn deall cyfansoddiad ym mêr ei esgyrn, a drwy ei ymennydd mawr i gyd. Roedd e’n deall yr egwyddorion o wahanu rhwng Llywodraeth a Chynulliad, yr angen i graffu ar Lywodraeth drwy fod yn annibynnol, a’r gallu i’r Llywodraeth dderbyn beirniadaeth. Roedd hynny i gyd yna, oherwydd ei brofiad o fel seneddwr yn San Steffan.

Felly, fe allwn ni wedyn fwrw ymlaen i godi’r hyn yr ydym ni wedi ei godi. Wrth gwrs, nid oedd o blaid yr adeilad yma. Roedd o eisiau estyniad yn y cefn, yn Nhŷ Hywel, ond chafodd o ddim o’i ffordd yn y cyfeiriad yna. Ond fo oedd y cyntaf i ddweud, unwaith y daeth yr adeilad i fod, ei fod o yn ymfalchïo ynddo fo. Rydw i’n falch ein bod ni, fel yr ydw i’n deall, yn bwriadu dathlu ei ymadawiad o o’r lle hwn yn briodol yn yr adeilad yma yr wythnos nesaf. Adeilad pobl Cymru yw hwn, ond Rhodri Morgan a adeiladodd y wleidyddiaeth ar ei gyfer o.

I had the honour to know Rhodri over many decades. That wasn’t very exceptional. I think everyone involved in the Labour Party in Wales knew Rhodri at some time or other. In fact, everyone in Wales seemed to know Rhodri at some time or other. I do remember his personal kindness to me and to my late wife Elaine.

But I would like to make a specific tribute on behalf of those thousands of people in Wales who, like Rhodri, gave several decades of their lives to the campaign against apartheid in South Africa, and the international sporting and cultural boycott that eventually contributed to the downfall of the apartheid regime. In Wales, through the Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement, it was one of the most effective campaigns across the world. It engaged, over several decades, generations of activists and knew no party political boundaries, and Rhodri was a founder member of the Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement. He was at the forefront of that movement, and alongside many other major Welsh political figures, such as Neil Kinnock, Lord Jack Brooks, Phil Squire, who was then the leader of Mid Glamorgan council, Jenny Randerson, South Glamorgan council leader Bob Morgan, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Dafydd Iwan through song, and many others—Dai Francis—Rhodri, alongside Julie, was always there in that campaign. In the 1980s, he was part of a delegation to the National Eisteddfod, which successfully established a cultural boycott, something that would in previous years have been unheard of. He supported the rugby boycott, something that was not easy for an ardent rugby fan. He actively campaigned and supported the calls for the release of Nelson Mandela, and upon his release from prison—Mandela’s, that is—he proudly spoke of the special link between Wales and South Africa. This was recognised by Nelson Mandela and by the African National Congress.

Rhodri was a participant in the famous Welsh fundraising sponsored walk held each year to raise funds for charities commemorating the Soweto massacre, a walk that, in fact, carries on to this day, and I walk I know he enjoyed—5 miles from Llantwit Major to the Plough and Harrow pub in Monknash, and then, much more slowly, back again. Alongside so many, Rhodri was a spokesman for all that was so good in Wales when it came to standing up against injustice wherever it occurred, and in the best internationalist traditions of Wales. So, on behalf of all those who were involved in that movement—and I know they would like me to say this—thank you, Rhodri. You were a great campaigner for justice and international solidarity and you played your part in Wales in bringing the evil of apartheid to an end.

I also rise as a member of the class of 1999, and also the chair of the Plaid Cymru group here at the Assembly. I met Rhodri Morgan for the first time in 1996. We were both on a panel discussing the health service back in 1996, and I remember him being surprised that a young doctor wanted to venture into this world of politics. I was rather surprised myself, to be honest, and perhaps I’m still slightly surprised. But that is my earliest memory of Rhodri Morgan, and he was great company on that day.

Of course, in 1999, the original 60 Members here were elected, and it’s strange to think of all the Plenary sessions that have been held here over the years, some in quite good times and others in quite difficult times, such as today, to be honest. This day was black enough already. It’s become even darker with the overnight news from Manchester.There is a significant challenge for us as a nation in the light of everything that is occurring in our world today, and we are very proud to have this Assembly as a basis for the way in which we can respond.

Therefore, I am very proud to be able to pay tribute to Rhodri Morgan’s work over the years. Yes, we have heard that in the early years, things were quite delicate here at times, but gradually, the powers have grown and the referendum was won in 2011, and this Senedd is on its way to becoming a real Parliament. It’s fair to say that our thanks are greatly due to the special contribution of Rhodri Morgan to secure the strengthening of this Senedd over the years. It is needed more than ever, to protect Wales today.

We see that Julie is here and I’m pleased to be able to greet you as a friend, as a colleague and Member of this Assembly, and we sympathise deeply with you and all your family. I am aware, of course, that the family are present in the public gallery, and it’s good to greet my old friend and the brother of Rhodri Morgan, Professor Prys Morgan. We have been friends in Swansea for over 30 years. He’s a very close friend and a genius of Wales’s history. The contribution of the Morgan family, the Morgans, as we’ve already heard, has been exceptional, and we have you all in our prayers.

I just wanted to share a few short anecdotes from our family about Rhodri and Julie as well. One cherished story in our family is: long before Rhodri had ever become a public figure, in their early relationship, Julie took Rhodri up to meet my grandparents in a little cottage on a hill above Swansea. My grandmother was a very sociable Welsh mam and would have been full of tea and Welsh cakes, but my grandfather not so much. He could be a little judgmental perhaps, and very firm in his views and beliefs.

So, my father called a little afterwards, perhaps with a little trepidation, to see how the visit had gone and was astonished to find my grandfather said that he was ‘all right’—a little pause—‘yes, he’s all right’, and then, on his way out of the house, my grandmother leaning forward and saying, ‘He passed very high, very high’. I’ve never asked Julie about her version of that story, but it’s a cherished one in the family.

Then, of course, as time went on, Rhodri and Julie became much more public figures, but still always had the time to share with the family and to come to family occasions and be hospitable in Cardiff or come down to Swansea and be hospitable. The whole family cherishes the spirited discussions that ranged right from autism at the last lunch, in the family and in Wales as a wider thing, to the labyrinthine family connections of who was related to who, and sleeping with who, and not sleeping with who, or divorced from who, and so on, that Rhodri could effortlessly span, the intricate details of Cardiff and Swansea local politics, which he also seemed to have a labyrinthine knowledge of, extraordinarily, and then, even more astonishing, my father mentioning something that had happened in Canada—a spirited and in-depth discussion about Canadian politics, and the relationship of Welsh mining to Canadian mining, and so on. I’m not telling you anything you didn’t know about Rhodri. He seemed to know everything about everything. He had the time and the energy to give to people, and Julie alongside him. They were very kind to my family when my father was ill, taking the time and trouble to support us. They will be sadly missed. We loved them dearly, and my deepest condolences to Julie and the family.

Thank you very much. I’m pleased to pay my own tribute to Rhodri—a giant of our nation. He was a patriot, a democratic, pragmatic socialist who made a huge difference to our nation. He brought stability to this place in a very troubled time. My own story with Rhodri goes back to the 1980s, when I was extremely proud that our branch of the Labour Party was the first to nominate Rhodri to be our Member of Parliament for Cardiff West. I will never forget that, and Rhodri never forgot it either, because the love that that community had for Rhodri was immense. He loved the working class there, and they loved him back. He was authentic in everything, and that authenticity was something that came over very clearly—a little too authentic for some of us, at times. We had to send him home to change his jeans that were too dirty and he had no shirt and tie, and we had to send him back to smarten himself up a little bit for Ely. But he made a huge impression—a huge impression—on our nation. I just want to pay a quick tribute in poetry:

He was a great choice, and Rhodri, full of life and fun, a Labour man to the core, and may that persist—a giant of the people and a giant of his nation.

Julie, rwy’n gobeithio y byddwch yn derbyn ein holl gariad ar yr adeg anodd hon, a diolch yn fawr iawn am rannu Rhodri gyda phob un ohonom ni.

Julie Morgan.

Diolch. I wanted to speak very briefly just to thank you, from all parties, for your tributes, because they are deeply comforting. I know that to be First Minister here for Rhodri was the pinnacle of his political career, and he loved this place. He loved this Parliament, this Assembly. He also loved the House of Commons. He loved the thrust of politics and he had enormous enthusiasm for it. I will never forget him going up to the House of Commons weighed down with bags and arriving back in the early hours of the morning, because, of course, they were sleepy and they were having these very, very long nights in the House of Commons then. But he did enjoy it all enormously. It meant so much to him.

One thing I want to say about Rhodri that was very important: he never looked back. He made his decisions and he never regretted them. So, when he left here as First Minister, he never looked back and he never said to me, ‘Oh, I wish I’d done this’ or ‘I wish I’d done that’. He just looked forward at what he still wanted to do. The eight years that he had after being First Minister, they were so full and so fulfilled. Many people that are here today have mentioned that he absolutely loved the garden. He had the most wonderful crops and he had them all prepared for our big extended family, who are here in the Chamber today, to give them those vegetables when they came. As Jane said, he’d just had an extra five new chickens. So, I’m going to be very busy looking after the chickens and the vegetables.

But he also did a lot of other things. He’s nearly finished his book, which I’m sure you’ll all be interested to read when it’s published. He loved being the Chancellor of Swansea University. He was very involved with Cell Therapy, a company he was very involved with. So, every minute was enjoyment, and he really always looked forward. He was immensely fulfilled. We’ve had, I would say, a rollercoaster sort of life, with the politics being so rollercoaster. You know, it’s been rosettes, rosettes all the way, but it’s been wonderful. It’s been a huge pleasure and I really feel that losing Rhodri is a terrible personal blow to me and to the family. It is an aching loss, and I know that I haven’t realised yet the full enormity. But, it is very comforting to listen to what everybody has said today, and the tributes from everybody here in the Chamber and from all over Wales that we have received have been a huge comfort. I’d like to finish by saying that he had a wonderful life and he enjoyed every minute. [Applause.]

I’m grateful to you all for your noteworthy and sincere contributions, and I’m particularly grateful to Julie and the family for sharing these tributes with us. We will never see the like of Rhodri Morgan in this Senedd again. You’ve all alluded to his humour, his wit, his detailed and encyclopaedic knowledge and his unrivalled intelligence, coupled with the force of his rhetoric. For those of us who’ve served here since 1999, we will not forget his courage and boldness in creating and leading the Welsh Government. Rhodri ploughed his own furrow, and did so in order to do what he believed was best for this nation.

As we heard, Rhodri’s utopia was a small patch of Ceredigion—Mwnt. During the summer, reports would reach the local Assembly Member that the First Minister of Wales was in his shorts on the beach at Mwnt, or could be seen reading a newspaper on the rocks by the sea or swimming with the dolphins that had ventured once again to play in the shallow waters. In his caravan on Blaenwaun farm, Rhodri was given peace, tranquillity and time to reflect, to recharge his batteries and to relax in the company of his closest family.

Roedd Rhodri Morgan yn bolymath—roedd ei wybodaeth a’i gof yn aruthrol. Dyma’r dyn, wrth ddadorchuddio llun o Colin Jackson yn y Cynulliad, a allai adrodd amseroedd rasys mawr yr athletwr i'r canfed rhan o eiliad. Roedd yn llawn o'r annisgwyl. Fe’m lloriodd yn llwyr pan oeddwn i’n Weinidog materion gwledig iddo, pan ofynnodd i mi, ar draws bwrdd y Cabinet, am yr wybodaeth ddiweddaraf ynghylch sut yr oeddwn i’n bwriadu mynd i’r afael ag ymosodiad o sglefrod môr a oedd yn bwyta eogiaid. Roedd yn ein harwain gyda’i galon yn y Siambr hon. Roedd yn ein parchu ni i gyd, ac yn cymryd diddordeb ym mhob un ohonom ni ac yn yr holl gymunedau yr oeddem yn eu cynrychioli. Roedd Rhodri yn ddyn a oedd yn arwain ei wlad gydag angerdd a realaeth, ac fe nofiai’n dawel gyda'r dolffiniaid.

Gadewch i ni gofio Rhodri a sefyll er parch i bopeth a gyflawnodd dros ei genedl, ac i gydymdeimlo â Julie a'r teulu.

Assembly Members stood for a minute’s silence.

Thank you, Rhodri. That concludes our tributes.

Plenary was suspended at 13:54.

The Assembly reconvened at 14:05, with the Llywydd in the Chair.