I'll just begin with agreeing with Mark Reckless there that there should, indeed, be an election on 6 May. I think, in many ways, we're all agreed with that. The problem is that it's—what was that phrase by Donald Rumsfeld—the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns as well. We realise that we could be in a situation here where something makes it impossible to hold that election on 6 May. I want it to go ahead; I think everybody here in the Senedd wants that election to go ahead.

I agree with Alun's point, which is that we're at that point where there needs to be a refresh, a renewal and a democratic mandate for a new Welsh Senedd—absolutely right. But I do think we need also to have that belt-and-braces option in the background in case we are in the position where we literally cannot do it safely. Now, I don't anticipate that that will happen. I think there are ways to do this safely and it's been remarked upon already that there are other countries that have been able to do this, even in the midst of the COVID pandemic. But I think, given that option, albeit that it has to be an utter last resort when everything else is exhausted, when it simply cannot be done safely, I think it's probably the sensible thing to do, because wouldn't it be ridiculous to get to that point and find that we haven't given ourselves the tools to take that option if a Senedd supermajority so determined?

But I just want to thank the members of the elections planning group, including the political leaders who engaged with us, because I think it has come forward with a pragmatic set of proposals, most of which I agree with—some, I'd probably suggest, could go a little bit forward. I'm glad, in a pragmatic way, they've looked at giving greater flexibility around applying for postal and proxy voting, whilst putting the safeguards in place. I think that's a sensible way forward to make sure that we can indeed deliver that election on 6 May.

I'm glad, but I'd be interested in the timescale for this, that they're going to look at promoting postal voting in order to take some of the weight off the actual polling day—or polling days, as we now understand—so that, particularly, people with vulnerable health conditions or of a certain age will not have to, if they're worried, march down to a polling station, they can, indeed, vote by post. But I would be interested, as others have said, in when that's going to happen and when that push to persuade people that that is a viable option is going to happen.

But I'd like to touch on a couple of things that the First Minister picked up on. It was interesting that you've touched on, First Minister, the fact that you may look at additional polling days in advance of the actual date of the election. Curiously, I was going to argue, as I've traditionally argued, that we should, as Alun Davies would say, actually look at not doing it simply on one day but on two or three days that would be more convenient for people. Democracy, I think, nowadays, okay it has to be a—it's not just a right, it's a responsibility, but people should be given the options of being able to do this easily, particularly in the middle of COVID. But you've suggested there that you will give additional days in advance of the election date. I think that is really sensible and pragmatic. It does mean that people can make a choice, in order to make this election happen on the date we've already decided and not go for an extension, that they could go in earlier and avoid the fears they might have of standing in a queue or risking their health in any way. So, I think that's really sensible indeed.

The part I'd agree with Alun on is—I am curious as to why we've jettisoned entirely the idea of going even further on the postal votes themselves. Because if we are in a situation where the choice is between actually delaying an election for six months or having actually having gone for encouraging people to sign up en masse to postal voting, I know which one I'd prefer. It's on the basis that we should be carrying this election out on the day we've decided that I'd be pushing even further for more postal voting in advance. But, failing that, I think the backstop is the right one—the backstop of having to come back to the Senedd. What I would ask in that situation, First Minister, is whether, then, a date needs to be put to the Senedd, because it's up to six months. My preference would be it should be the shortest term possible, based on the medical and scientific advice available at that time, based on projections, but that a date would actually be put to the Senedd within that proposal from the Llywydd, if it was to be put.

But, in closing, let me just thank those who've brought this together. This is a difficult one, because it's right that we have to renew our democratic mandate. It's absolutely right that we try and aim for 6 May. Where I would depart from Mark Reckless and also from the Conservative spokesman earlier on, is saying I think we also need to take a backstop here, because we may find ourselves in a position that we cannot actually run the election on 6 May. I don't think it's probable at the moment, but it's possible, and, as such, we need to have a pragmatic step in place that would allow us to get beyond, if necessary. Thanks very much, Dirprwy Lywydd.