Hansard

I will start by not only supporting the motion in the First Minister’s name but echoing all his comments.

Presiding Officer, I thank you for your dedication over the past five years and for your dedication over 15 years to your constituents and to the great people of Scotland.

To the Deputy Presiding Officers, I say thank you for how you have managed our sessions fairly and tried to manage each and every one of us fairly, particularly when we have attempted to misbehave. Annabelle Ewing, I wish you all the very best in your retirement. Liam McArthur, I wish you all the very best in the election.

I also pay tribute to all MSPs, across the parties, who are either pursuing new challenges or planning to enjoy what I hope will be long and happy retirements. To those who are retiring, I say that every retired politician I meet always looks 10 years younger.

I say a particular thank you to my colleagues Sarah Boyack, Rhoda Grant, Richard Leonard, Alex Rowley and Mercedes Villalba, who are stepping down from the Parliament. Each and every one of you has made a significant contribution to the Parliament and to public life in Scotland. You have represented the very best of the Scottish Labour Party and, more importantly, the very best of Scotland.

One of our retirees, Rhoda Grant, is from the Parliament’s original intake in 1999. Sarah Boyack served in Donald Dewar’s first ever Cabinet. Alex Rowley is a former deputy leader of Scottish Labour, as well as a former general secretary. Richard Leonard was one of my predecessors as party leader from 2017 to 2021. My thanks go to all of them and to the many members from other parties who are stepping down.

One third of MSPs are moving on. Although that means that there are too many to mention individually, I thank each and every one of them for their invaluable public service. Among the most notable departures are two former First Ministers; the current Deputy First Minister; other cabinet secretaries; and, of course, the former leader of the Conservatives, whom I know many people will look forward to continuing to encourage enthusiastically from the football stands.

I pay tribute to my fellow Glasgow MSPs. In particular, I pay tribute to Nicola Sturgeon, who served as the Parliament’s first-ever female First Minister for almost a decade. I am sure that both of us are relieved that we will no longer be sparring partners in the south side of Glasgow, as we have been for almost 30 years. I also pay tribute to her successor, Humza Yousaf, who led the way by becoming the first—I hope that he will not be the last—First Minister from an ethnic minority background. I am sure that both of them are looking forward to new challenges, but they must also be looking forward to being free of the personal burden that I know high office places on them as individuals and on their wider families. I am sure that their families are looking forward to having a lot more of their time and, of course, their headspace.

My thanks go to the Parliament’s chief executive and all the parliamentary staff who have looked after us so well during the past five years. Whenever I am in this place, I make a point of speaking to as many of the people who are responsible for the smooth running of the Parliament as I can. To those working in reception, security, maintenance and catering, and all their other colleagues, thank you for your immense efforts. Most of all, enjoy the six-week break from each and every one of us.

My thanks again to you, Presiding Officer. I hope that you enjoy spending those extra hours with Alan and your daughter.

When we all return after the election on 7 May, there will be lots of work to do, and I hope that we will do it by representing the very best of Scotland.

16:37