Llywydd, diolch. This fifth term of devolution has been especially cruel in the loss of so many Members, both past and present. In the still young life of this Parliament, the death of a Member is an experience that strikes us with force each time we are confronted by it. Now, for the third time, we have lost a Senedd colleague elected alongside us in 2016.

I had two immediate thoughts about Mohammad Asghar when I was told of his sudden death yesterday, and I want to draw on them with you today as we remember his contribution to this Senedd and political life in Wales.

The first was his indefatigable attendance at events to mark and celebrate the contribution of minority communities in Wales. Those of us who represent constituencies with vibrant populations from all around the world will know that it’s never long before you have an invitation to take part in such an event. And I thought of myself as not a bad attender at those cultural celebrations, but Oscar was something different. Wherever and whenever asked to take part, whether that was making a speech or awarding a medal, he was there. And his presence was of a different significance, because he was there to demonstrate that someone who had arrived in Wales from a different continent had been able to make a successful life here, right up to representing his region in this Senedd. He will be much missed here, but he will be missed in a different way there, because in those places, his career was a symbol of something so much wider.

My second immediate recollection was of standing in the lift on the way to the Senedd, going to and from the Siambr. Did we talk about the agenda that day? Did we worry about questions that we’d asked or answered? No. As Paul Davies said, we talked always about cricket, a passion like no other. Oscar was the only other Member of the Senedd on whom I could rely to know the scores in matches from around the world, the form—or the lack of it—of key players, and the prospects of various teams, both local and national, and, of course, each time and always, to hear about the pressing need for a cricket team to represent Wales.

Llywydd, it’s the joy of democracy that it washes each one of us into the Senedd from our very different backgrounds and experiences, to represent the huge variety of Wales. Mohammad Asghar made his contribution to that diversity by combining the personal and the political, in a way that was unique to him and will be uniquely missed. Our thoughts today are, of course, with his family and his friends.