Thank you, Presiding Officer.

This is not an occasion that I ever thought that I would be speaking to in this Chamber, and, indeed, in the whole 10 years that I have been a Member of the institution, Carl always sat opposite me. Whether I was sitting in the corner there, in my first seat when I came into this Chamber in 2007, or by progression around the Chamber, Carl was always opposite, and, on a typical Tuesday, we'd look at each other and he would grin and he would wink, and I would wink back at him, and as the First Minister identified, when I was called to take my First Minister's questions, it was always 'Paul Davies' or 'Darren Millar.' But that was Carl. Carl was a character, but he was a serious individual, who knew what his role was in this institution. And that role was to speak for the people of Alyn and Deeside and to speak for the people the length and breadth of Wales who didn't have a voice, in the various ministerial positions that he held within the Welsh Government. And he held those positions with huge pride and passion. From the opposition point of view, very often you sit in here, and sometimes the Chamber can look quite bare on a Wednesday afternoon. It is fair to say that Carl was nearly always in his seat in this Chamber, engaging with the debate, engaging with the discussion, because he believed passionately in what he wanted to achieve, and that was a better Wales, a better community in Alyn and Deeside and, above all, a legacy that he could proudly look back on and say, 'I shaped that.'

Well, it is true to say that he did become the legislator in chief in this institution—four major pieces of legislation. Very often, politicians are lucky if they get one piece of legislation through in their lifetime; Carl put four pieces of legislation through. For a man to come from the factory floor and wake up each morning to put a collar and tie on and put the cufflinks in, and have that as a legacy—each piece of legislation will have a massive impact on the outcomes here in Wales about improving people's lives.

We have lost a colleague, we have lost a friend, but Bernie, Lucy and Carl's son have lost a father and a husband, and that pain and that distress must be burning fiercely at the moment. But what I and many on our benches on this side, and, I believe, across this Chamber hope will shine through in the fullness of time are the many happy memories that they will all have of the great times that they had with Carl, as a father, as a mentor and as an inspiration.17

You speak as you find, but I have to say he is one of the most genuine men that I've had the privilege to meet, and that picture up there of Carl sums the man up: always a smile on his face, always a kind word to say, always a quip as well as you walked down the corridor, and every time I saw him it was always, 'What's happening, boss, what's happening, boss?' I think that would be the same for many people in this Chamber. The word 'boss' comes from where Carl came from: the factory floor. Because the amount of times that I'm on the farmyard and people arrive there—'What's happening, boss?'—you get the same reply from them as well.18

His legacy will last for many years and many decades, for the work that he did as an AM, and I passionately hope that that sunshine comes sooner rather than later for Carl's family, because ultimately he has a legacy to be proud of and it has been a privilege and an honour to call Carl a fellow Assembly Member of the National Assembly for Wales. We join his family, his friends and his colleagues in grieving at his loss here today and in the subsequent days and weeks that follow.