 conseguent o gwiftiau试awm daf am y cyd. Ac wrth gwrth, mae'r pertynom i unigau bod heteroseal o bwrtfa Cooigeg Skol Antonio. Itaol nefadol yn austill loedd ar gyfath o'r Ad Safoloogol, roseth codi ia気en penedigol y cwsidig o posturech yn ei deall, aberwch i chi'n eiht sprout maedair argen oherwyddjazemf tranquill thatjau yn hyn o'r cygyn ofliadau y gyhoedd o exilegion yniblings o'r Gwyrddog. Bryn Adam, Helen Eadie, Margo MacDonald a David McLeachie. As we look back over the past five years, we remember how much they contributed and how much we continue to miss them. I also want to acknowledge the 24 MSPs across the chamber who will not be seeking re-election on May 5. We thank them for their service and wish them all the very best for the future. I think that all of them, each and every one, can be proud of the contribution that they have made to this Parliament and of their service to the people of our country. Of course, 12 of the MSPs who are standing down today were elected to the very first Parliament in 1999. Therefore, I think that they merit special mention. They are Malcolm Trism, Alex Ferguson, Annabelle Goldie, Hugh Henry, Adam Ingram, Kenny MacAskill, Jamie McGrigor, Fiona McCloud, Duncan McNeill, Alex Salmond, Mary Scanlon, Richard Simpson and, of course, our Presiding Officer, Trisha Marwick. All have been fine and dedicated MSPs. Five served as ministers. Annabelle Goldie was the first female party leader at Holyrood. In that, she set an important and, in my view, highly desirable precedent. Alex Ferguson in the previous Parliament was a very distinguished Presiding Officer. Alex Salmond was, of course, my predecessor as First Minister and my boss for the first seven and a half years of this Government. I owe him a particular debt of gratitude. He is leaving the Parliament for the second time, though whether or not it is for the last time remains to be seen. Can I also take the opportunity, Presiding Officer, to pay tribute to someone else today who has announced that he is stepping down in May? He is not a member of the Scottish Parliament, but he regularly sits in this chamber. I am referring, of course, to Scotland's Lord Advocate. Frank Mulholland has been an outstanding Lord Advocate. He has reformed the Crown Office. He has transformed the prosecution of sexual offences and domestic abuse cases. He has also been a source of very thoughtful, reliable and, at times, very robust advice to the Scottish Government. I want to take the opportunity today—I am sure on behalf of all of us—in thanking him for his service to Scotland. Of course, the last of the class of 1999 standing down today is Trisha Marwick, who has served this Parliament as Presiding Officer for the past five years. Five years ago, I was very proud to see a long-standing and great friend of mine assume the office of Presiding Officer. Today, as the first female First Minister of Scotland, it is a pleasure as well as an honour to pay tribute to the Parliament's first female Presiding Officer. Trisha Marwick's election as Presiding Officer was historic for that reason, but it broke new ground in other ways as well. Not just the first woman to hold the role, Trisha Marwick is also the first to have reached the office of Presiding Officer without a private school education or a university degree. Something our Presiding Officer and her family are and should be rightly proud of. Even more important than any of that is the way in which Trisha Marwick has conducted herself in office. She has been an outstanding and pioneering Presiding Officer. Trisha Marwick has been a true champion of the rights and the standing of this Parliament as an institution. She has been willing to challenge all parties in this chamber to hold us to account and, for the most part, to hold us in good order. At times, I have to say that that has been to the deep discomfort of all of us in different ways and at different times. Trisha Marwick has also always been prepared to do things a little bit differently. At all times, she has shown wisdom, good sense, good humour and complete impartiality. Although, Presiding Officer, Trisha Marwick has shown a huge commitment to this Parliament as an institution, she has also never forgotten that her first and most important duty is to serve the people of her constituency. I know how proud Trisha Marwick has been to represent her home constituency of Midfaith and Glenrothes, and I am prepared to bet that the people of that constituency are very proud of her as well. In my view, there is no doubt that our Presiding Officer will be a huge loss to this Parliament, although I know that our loss will be her beloved grandchildren's gain. On behalf of all of us, Presiding Officer, I thank you for your service and I wish you and your family all the very best for the future. The Parliament that reconvenes in this chamber in May will not just have new faces, it will have new powers and new responsibilities, too. That is, in many ways, a testament to this chamber's success over the past 17 years. Since 1999, we have become the focus of Scottish public life, the chamber that people expect and trust to reflect their priorities, their values and their dreams. That is not something that has come quickly, as those of us who were elected in 1999 can well recall. It has been earned over the past four parliaments, and it is an achievement that belongs to MSPs from all parties. The growth in this chamber's status and responsibilities should inspire the next Parliament, come May, to work even harder to serve the people of our country. It should be a source of pride for all 24 of the MSPs who are standing down today that they have contributed to making our Parliament what it is today. It is fitting that this Parliament should place its gratitude to them on record, and it is very fitting that this Parliament today should record our thanks to our history-making. I move the motion in my name. Thank you very much, First Minister, and I now call on Kezia Dugdale. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I rise to add my support to the motion in the First Minister's name. When the story of this parliamentary session is written, what will it say? Might it say that this was the Parliament that righted many long-standing wrongs? That it gave same-sex couples the right to marry? The death community, the recognition of an official language? That it stood up to the shame of modern slavery and human trafficking? Might it say that, despite the division bell ringing three times a week for the past five years, the most memorable division was the one on 18 September when the whole country divided down the signs of yes and no? Or might it remember the days we united as one around motions of condolence, as we did this morning to reflect on the terrible events in Brussels, as we did just four months ago for the very same thing in Paris? Might it mark those sad and sorry days when we mourned the passing of one of our own? Losing Brian Adam, David McLechey, Margo McDonald and Helen Eadie touched each corner of this chamber, but it united us all together as one. In happier news, might the history book say that this was the Parliament that shattered the glass ceiling? A Parliament where three parties shared no less than five female leaders? Might it say that this was the time when the Parliament itself came of age, demanding financial independence and more responsibility? Whilst all that is up for debate, Trisha Marwick's place in the history books is guaranteed. Not just the first female Presiding Officer, but its first publicly educated one. A working class champion, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to put my party's thanks on record for all that she's done in that role. I'd also like to say a personal thanks for the good guidance she has offered me. It feels not five years but a lifetime ago that I was slapped in your office to receive a dressing down for having broken the parliamentary rules. My crime was bringing a simulator baby into this chamber to demonstrate the problems of finding affordable childcare. The next day, the front page of my local newspaper splashed with baby MSP put on the naughty step, but I wasn't there for long as you guided me towards a smarter way to make your point, and I grew up faster because of it. From your trademark, which to the advice and guidance offered to so many new members, you'll be remembered very fondly by those members that you leave behind. But you've left a lasting mark on the Parliament too, from reforming the parliamentary week to transforming the Parliament into a fantastic art space. You've innovated at every turn, and whilst you'll be missed, there is a legacy to be proud of. When you walk out of the chamber today, seven members of my group will retire with you. Drew Smith, Graham Pearson, Margaret McDougall, Hugh Henry, Duncan McNeill, Malcolm Chisholm and Dr Richard Simpson. Collectively, they've served 79 years in this place, and the Parliament will be weaker in their absence, and I pay tribute to each and every one of them. To all those members stepping down today, I send sincere thanks on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party for your years of public service and wish you all a happy, prosperous and peaceful life beyond elected politics. Deputy Presiding Officer, I too support the motion in the name of the First Minister, and I pay tribute to colleagues on all sides of the chamber who are standing down today. From the Conservative benches, we bid a fond farewell to many of our most redoubtable characters. Annabelle Goldie, our leader emeritus, our former Presiding Officer Alex Ferguson, original members of the class of 99 in Mary Scanlon and Jamie McGrigor, as well as Gavin Brown, Lynette Milne and Cameron Buchanan. Each has left their own mark on Parliament, and I would like to thank all of them for their service, both to the Scottish Conservative Party and, more importantly, to the people that they have represented across Scotland. I would also like to remember those lost to the Parliament from all corners of the chamber, Brian Adam, Helen Edie, Margo MacDonald and David McClechey. Their contributions enrich this place. This last session has been a remarkable one for Parliament. Time and time again, new ground has been broken—greater powers, landmark legislation, a female First Minister, a female Presiding Officer. This has changed how the Parliament looks, sounds and functions. Of course, Holyrood was not designed with the majority government in mind, but over the last five years, majority government is what we have had. I think that colleagues on all sides would recognise that this has given rise to scenarios not present in previous sessions and generated important questions around accountability and structure. I know that this is an issue close to the Presiding Officer's heart, and her recent comments about strengthening Holyrood's committee system are worthy of serious reflection, especially as we contemplate future Scottish Governments with even greater legislative powers. I turn to the motion itself and to our Presiding Officer. When in the chair, Trisha Marwick has discharged her duties with consideration and good spirit. She is a principled and thoroughly decent person who has proven herself approachable to all members no matter which party they happen to represent. I thank her for this and for her own personal kindnesses that she has shown to me over the years. As this Parliament matures, so too does the role of the Presiding Officer. Trisha Marwick has played an important part in this process, and she leaves Parliament with all our gratitude. It is fair to say that my fellow pfeifer has brought her own unique style to the post and did once have a foreign dignitary approach me and asked me one Thursday afternoon which part of parliamentary protocol was being referred to with the words again in evidence today. It is exactly this down-to-earth nature that has endeared Trisha to many and has made her a key part of Parliament life. Like other members here today, I would like to thank Trisha Marwick for her service. She leaves Parliament with the best wishes of the entire Scottish Conservative family. It is difficult to believe that it has been five years since I first stood here to share my opinions. Can I thank colleagues across the chamber for listening or at least pretending to listen? Although we may have been political foes, I have always been grateful for the personal friendships. I think that it is important to remember those we have lost. Those losses are still felt in this Parliament, and to those who retire today, we wish them well for the future. We are grateful to Sir Paul Gries, who, after 17 years as chief executive of the Parliament, still leads a team of staff who serve all members with courtesy, discretion and diligence. We are grateful to those who support our committees and in Spice, not least because we understand the enormous range of knowledge that they are expected to have at our immediate disposal. We wish them the best as they prepare for the new powers and the responsibilities of this Parliament. Our thanks to the business team, who are always able to assist and help members, and to the wide ancillary staff in every corner of the building, who have helped us every day. Finally, I thank you for your service in the chair. You have remarked yourself how you could never have anticipated when you grew up in a working-class community in Fife that you would one day be our Parliament's voice and ambassador. The first woman to do that, the first Presiding Officer from a state school, a fifer at the heart of our Parliament. I like that. You have fulfilled the job with distinction. My colleagues and I have been pleased to support you in your work. The radical reforms that you enacted to make our Parliament stronger and more effective, not least on topical questions, will stand as a permanent legacy in this place. You can be proud of the path that you have taken and the change that you have brought. Thank you for that opportunity to add my support for the motion and to echo the respect offered by others, in particular to those late members. We all miss Brian, David, Helen and perhaps because of where she sat, I will probably miss most of all the wit, wisdom and occasional barbed comment from Margo MacDonald just behind my left ear. I would like to echo Willie Rennie's comments, thanking the very many members of the Parliament's wider staff team. None of us would be able to do our jobs without them doing their jobs to the high standard that they do. The job of the person in that chair isn't always an easy one. I have to admit that we don't always make it an easy one. Our current Presiding Officer has undertaken that role at a time when life beyond Parliament has brought its own challenges and she has the respect and gratitude of Parliament for her service during that period. Each session of this Parliament has had its own distinctive character and it has posed different challenges for our Presiding Officers. The beginning of devolution with a coalition administration, the rainbow Parliament with new voices to be heard, a minority Government and the question of how scrutiny operates then and single party majority, how to make scrutiny the robust and challenging process that is needed. In taking on the office of Presiding Officer, Trisha Marwick recognised that reform was needed and that it is still needed. Whoever has the privilege of sitting in those chairs after May 5 must recognise the challenges that we will pose to whoever sits in that chair in allowing us to hold to account a more powerful Government with a wider range of responsibilities. The voices of our previous Presiding Officers, including Trisha Marwick, will continue to inform us and we should allow our decisions about that on-going reform agenda to be informed by the experience that they have gained in each of those four previous sessions. Finally, Presiding Officer, I also offer my respect and thanks to the service of those members who are not re-standing for election. We have disagreed sometimes robustly but I think for the most part respectfully and that is something that I think the whole Parliament should be proud of. Thank you, Mr Harvie, and we now come to decision time. There are two questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first question is that motion 16030, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on a motion of condolence for Brussels, be agreed to. Are we all agreed? We are. The motion is therefore agreed to. Before I invite the Presiding Officer to give a validictory speech on behalf of the Parliament's deputy Presiding Officers, myself and John Scott, I would like to thank you, Presiding Officer, for your service to the Scottish Parliament over many years, but we will be grateful to you for your service to the Scottish Parliament. We are grateful to you for your service to the Scottish Parliament over many years, but particularly over this session as Presiding Officer. John and I have greatly enjoyed working with you and we wish you all the best for the future. Also on behalf of the deputy Presiding Officers, I would like to thank Sir Paul Gries and all of the parliamentary staff that have helped us through this session and indeed our own staff. It now gives me great pleasure to invite the Presiding Officer, Trisha Marwick, to make her closing remarks and close this session of the Parliament. Thank you. There is a rumour of a sweet steak on when I start crying during this week. I'm determined nobody is going to win that. Can I thank you all for your very generous words, not just to me, but also towards those who are leaving us and also those who have sadly left us during this session. I was honoured to be one of the 129 MSPs who walked together into our Parliament in 1999. When I joined the Scottish Parliament in 1985, the prospects of a Scottish Parliament were not promising. Winning the central five constituency seat in 2007, after 15 years of standing and being defeated in the same seat, perhaps showed something of my determination. To be the constituency MSP would have been enough for me, but the privilege of being the Presiding Officer of this Parliament has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. I am passionate about this Parliament. I have been impartial in this Parliament, but I have never been impartial about this Parliament. There are many people to thank. Firstly, my family, my husband Frank, my children Louise and Stephen, my sisters and brother who have always been there for me and are here today, my constituency staff throughout, Karen Newton, my parliamentary secretary from the beginning for her friendship and for keeping my secrets, the wonderful professional staff of the Parliament and all of our contractors too, many of whom have been with us since 1999 and who have become friends as well as colleagues. To Sir Paul Grice, who has led the Parliament throughout with distinction and has been a good friend to many of us, my special thanks go to my principal private secretary, Billy McLaren, who has been a calming influence and together with Paul has given me wise advice and counsel and all the mistakes I have made have been my own. To my current private office, Jen Bellens, Mackay and their predecessors and also those in the international relations office, but especially to Gail Grant, who helped and looked after me when I was so ill and kept me supplied with tea. I could not have got through it without you. My deputies, Elaine Smith and John Scott, who have worked hard on your behalf and have given me great support. The SPCB members, who since 2011 have taken brave and bold decisions in the interests and on behalf of the Parliament and its members. My constituents of Midfaith and Glenruthys are wonderful people and it has been a privilege to be their MSP. I am so proud to have represented my constituency that has been my home for over 40 years. 17 years is but a blink of an eye, but in those short years the Parliament has grown in stature, the powers it has acquired and the powers it will gain in the future. The Parliament has, in that period, established itself at the centre of public life and we have done this together. The referendum campaign was without doubt the most exciting time in any of our political lives. More than that, it was the sheer energy and determination of the people to be central to decisions about their future and the future direction of their country and their Parliament. We owe it to them to make sure they continue to be so. There are many memories that I will treasure from my time in here, as the former convener of the Borders Rail Committee. I will never forget the official opening journey last year, particularly when we passed Stow station, which the committee added as an amendment to the bill. I claim Stow station as my own. Marwick station has got a certain ring to it. Votes for young people at 16, PR for council elections, tolls removed from the Forth and Tate bridges and the new Forth Road bridge. All issues that I campaign passionately for. Scotland has changed since 1999 and it has changed for the better. Who will ever forget the convulsions over the repeal of section 28 or the debates about civil partnerships? A measure of that change came in 2014 with the passing of the equal marriage bill and the joyous scenes in the public gallery and outside this Parliament, as the Parliament placed itself firmly on the side of equality and what is now mainstream opinion. Our Parliament has changed too. It looks different, feels different and is different. In 1999, the Presiding Officer and all the party leaders were men. As I look out from here, I see the first female First Minister and female leaders of the two main opposition parties. That makes me proud and hopeful for the generations of young women to follow us. 129 of us walked into the Parliament together on that momentous day in 1999 and now only 30 are seeking re-election to the next Parliament. The baton is being passed to new generations. My hope for them is that they, like us, reach across the party divides and find common ground and friendships. It has been an honour to serve you and the Parliament as Presiding Officer for the last five years. I have cherished every moment of it. I promised on my election, Presiding Officer, that I would do my best and that I would always put the Parliament first. I have. Like Duncan McNeill, I am going to spend more time with my wonderful grandchildren, Roshin and Oren. I can say that it is goodbye from me for now. I will be back on me 12 to preside over the election of your next Presiding Officer. I now close this meeting and the fourth session of Parliament.