Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, as you've said, you have led your party and your country for nine years, and as has already been said in this Chamber earlier today, you have been a member of the Welsh Government's Cabinet for over 18 years—almost as long as your former Government colleague, the Member for the Vale of Glamorgan. Of course, during that time, you have held many of the major portfolios—education, environment, agriculture and Counsel General—as well as the highest public office in Wales. Very few people earn the privilege to lead their country, and let alone for the best part of a decade.

Legacy is important in politics, and it is true to say that many people will remember your time as First Minister for different things and different reasons. The decisions we make as politicians, particularly when we hold high office, can have significant consequences for our nation and for individual people. They can affect people for good and for ill. Sometimes we cannot conceive of the consequences that our decisions will have, but they will have their effect nevertheless. Some decisions we will wish we had made sooner, some we regret, but all are part of our story and the legacy we leave behind.

Personally, having been an Assembly Member since 2007, I have always found you approachable and straightforward, particularly when I have raised issues of concern. Being an elected representative does place additional responsibilities on us, and that's okay, because we go into politics with open eyes. But it places additional responsibilities on our families as well, and that can sometimes be very difficult. We sometimes ask a lot of our families and our loved ones. As First Minister, I appreciate the additional scrutiny and pressure on your family, and I am sure that their private feelings of relief at your decision to stand down are matched by admiration and pride for the work you've done in the last nine years. 

While we have had many political differences and expressed strongly held views on Welsh Government policies and decisions, I have always had the utmost respect for you as the holder of the office of First Minister, and the way in which you have conducted your role. We have clashed on several occasions in this Chamber, especially in recent weeks, but whatever our political differences, as people, I am confident that there is more that unites us than what divides us. And, yes, there are times when we have worked together in the national interest. All parties in this Chamber campaigned together in the 2011 referendum on law-making powers, but we've shared some common ground on policy too: food hygiene ratings, public health, free childcare and carrier bag levies to name a few. And I know that in recent weeks you have visited a number of projects delivered during your time in office, and, not least, a number of new school buildings built through local authorities and the Welsh Government's twenty-first century schools programme.

While it's fair to say that you took over from a real giant of Welsh politics, your successor too has some big shoes to fill. I genuinely believe that all of us in this Chamber, while our journey here came through different routes, from different parts of Wales, are united by a commitment to public service. We all want the best for our country. We want a healthier, more prosperous, more environmentally friendly and fairer Wales, and through robust debate in this Chamber we all vote in the best interests of the people we represent, and I know that you share that desire, First Minister. And, on behalf of the Welsh Conservative group and the Welsh Conservative Party, I'd like to thank you for the immense contribution you have made during your tenure as First Minister, and the contribution you have made in 18 years in Government to our National Assembly and to Wales. 

As the Assembly Member for Bridgend, I know you will continue to play an active role in Welsh politics and in this place, and beyond that as well, and I know that public service is in your veins. So, I'm sure there is a future for you working for the people of Wales in public life. Thank you for your commitment to public service, Carwyn. Congratulations on your achievements in office and may I wish you and your family every success in the future. [Applause.]