First Minister, I'm sure you'd be the first to agree that we haven't always seen eye to eye over the years. But, I have no doubt that at every point during the period that you have held high office you've had the interests of our country foremost in your thoughts. When you took the reins, you were just the second First Minister in our history, and that particular honour will be yours forever, of course.

One of your main tasks in many ways was to build on the success of your predecessor, and someone you described earlier as your mentor, Rhodri Morgan—one who was crucial in gaining popular support for our National Assembly, a new institution that was on very unstable foundations during those early days. You took that responsibility seriously, working in the coalition with my party at that time. You proceeded with the referendum that we as two parties had agreed to institute, ensuring that this Senedd today has the powers that enable us to legislate for Wales and its people, today and for the future. That was quite an achievement, Carwyn, and I'm eager to put that on record today. Through collaboration between our two parties, there was a successful referendum in 2011, which was a historic milestone. We use those words very often as politicians, but this was historic in terms of the growth and development of our country’s national institutions.

I think your articulation of your vision of the kind of constitutional framework that Wales must have in order to become a more successful country can be seen as your most important contribution. As well as developing the Senedd's law-making powers, we saw the beginnings of the introduction of tax-varying responsibilities during your tenure. These powers will be crucial for us to have a more rounded economic policy for the future. You’ve also argued the case strongly for a distinctive legal jurisdiction for Wales and set in train the commission on justice, which I'm sure will take that agenda forward. Indeed, I am confident that leaders of an independent Wales in the future will be grateful to you for your contribution in that regard.

Beyond that, you've made a number of interventions more generally on a UK-wide level, calling for more co-operation between the devolved administrations and the UK Government. You've called for a federal structure for the United Kingdom, with the devolved nations represented in a reformed second chamber. This has of course opened the door to the next stages in the evolution of the relationship between the countries of these islands, which I'm sure will inevitably happen over the next decade. I'm sure that you will have a further contribution to make to that discussion.