We’re bringing our live page coverage of Mark Drakeford's final First Minister's Questions and formal Senedd resigntation to a close.

For more on Drakeford's last day as first minister, read our story here

Tomorrow Drakeford’s replacement Vaughan Gething will be installed as Wales’ new first minister.

To read more on who Wales' next first minister is, please click here.

If you'd like to join us again tomorrow, we'll bring you all the latest updates, news and analysis as Gething is installed as Wales' fifth first minister and first black first minister.

Image source, Welsh Government

Child poverty is still one of the biggest issues in Walespublished at 17:25 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March

17:25 GMT 19 March

Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor

When Mark Drakeford became First Minister he said that tackling child poverty was one of his key priorities but, as he steps down, the problem continues to plague Welsh society.

Recent Welsh government figures estimate that more than a quarter of children here are still growing up poor, external.

Drakeford has said that because the benefits system remains in the control of the UK government there is a limit to what a Welsh government can do to improve the situation.

But with his government’s recently launched child poverty strategy criticised as “deeply disappointing” by the children’s commissioner among others, the question remains – could more progress could have been made in the last five years?

Daniel Davies
BBC Wales political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

After becoming first minister five years ago, Mark Drakeford was thrust into the spotlight by Covid - and his academic style contrasted sharply with then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

That approach is also is credited with winning people over. Canvassing for the Senedd election in spring 2021 came soon after lockdown ended - and within days Labour people were reporting back that their leader was an asset.

That popularity wrong-footed opponents and although Labour fell short of a majority it gave Drakeford the authority to form a government and sign a deal with Plaid Cymru.

But now a question being asked is whether the gloss has come off, largely because of a policy that provoked a ferocious backlash: The 20mph law.

Drakeford's style fitted his title: professor. In public, patiently explaining his point of view. In private, chuckling and collegiate.

But he can be stubborn. He's not shy of combative language - and when that wasn't enough on one memorable occasion, he completely blew his top.

If devolution has changed Wales - for better or worse - surely no one person has had a bigger impact than him.

Anyone looking to learn more about Drakeford's life and career can listen to this 2020 Radio 4 Profile documentary.

What has changed in schools under Drakeford?published at 17:10 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March

17:10 GMT 19 March

Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales Education Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Now all of the leaving speeches and touching tributes are done, let's have a look at Mark Drakeford's time as Wales' first minister and what he's done for education.

Schools in Wales have gone through major upheaval due to the Covid pandemic while major reforms are rolled out.

A new schools curriculum - one of the biggest changes in a generation - was formally introduced in classrooms, though the plan had been drawn up years before Drakeford took charge.

He introduced universal free school meals for primary school pupils as part of a deal with Plaid Cymru.

Critics say Wales' poor performance in international reading, maths and science tests sum up his record in education - he says there's a lot more to schools than PISA results.

And could changing the pattern of the school year be part of Mark Drakeford's legacy? He's pressed on despite union opposition, but as he leaves office, it hasn't yet been signed off.

An emotional last day for Drakefordpublished at 17:04 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March

17:04 GMT 19 March

Gareth Lewis
Political Editor, BBC Wales

Image source, Welsh Government

On his final day as Wales' first minister, Mark Drakeford has twice mentioned the tragedy at Aberfan, which still casts its enormous shadow over Wales and links the country’s past and future.

Answering a question on coal-tip safety during FMQs and the slip at Tylorstown four years ago, he recalled returning home from school on an October afternoon in 1966 and knowing that something was wrong because the TV was on.

And then in his resignation statement he spoke of meeting two women in 2021 who had been teachers at Pantglas School and how he felt: “our Welsh history echoing down those years, that sense of solidarity and of suffering, a determination never to forget what has made us what we are today.”

It has been an emotional afternoon.

The voices of both Welsh Conservative Senedd Leader Andrew RT Davies and Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth cracked as they paid tribute.

It comes down to the fact that despite political differences, there is a an awful lot of personal respect and time for the outgoing FM from his opponents.

Image source, Welsh government

It's official! Mark Drakeford has signed a letter to the King formally resigning as Wales' first minister after five years.

It will be sent to Buckingham Palace by email later tonight.

The King will confirm the resignation before the Senedd reconvenes tomorrow.

Image source, Welsh Government

That’s that for Mark Drakeford’s tenure as Wales' first minister.

After five years at the helm, he has now delivered his resignation statement and will submit his resignation to the King.

He held his final cabinet meeting on Monday and his last First Minister's Questions today.

During his final day, Drakeford:

• Talked about Wales’ standing in the world in his final FMQ, touched on Covid, said the Senedd should be proud of demonstrating "mature, progressive politics” and said he was "hugely proud" of his 20mph speed limit policy
• He also said he hoped that in future Senedd members “focus a little bit more on generating light than generating heat”
• He then lead a debate on the independent commission he set up on the constitution. The group said it would be "viable" for Wales to leave the UK, but would face a "significant" challenge to raise enough tax revenue for public services
• He gave an emotional resignation speech in which he said he led a "radical reforming government", saying his job had been to "stick to the things that you believe will make the greatest difference"
• Drakeford had to pause briefly during his speech as he mentioned the death of his wife of 46 years, saying the last year had been the "hardest and saddest of my life"
• He also mentioned the Aberfan disaster, saying he had felt "a duty of care, not simply to our friends and neighbours but to people who we will never know, and will never meet"
• As he finished his last speech as FM, he received a standing ovation from the members of the Senedd
• The leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives both praised Drakeford's qualities saying he was a thoughtful and passionate leader
• Saying goodbye as first minister, Drakeford added that he hoped he led a "way through Covid which made people in Wales feel that they were being kept safe"

For more on Drakeford's last day, check out our story here

Here are a few snaps for Mark Drakeford's political album as Wales' departing first minister faces his last FMQs, pays an emotional farewell to the people of Wales while he hears equally emotional tributes from opposition leaders of all sides.

Image source, Welsh government

Image source, Welsh government

Image source, Welsh government

Image source, Welsh government

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Saying goodbye as first minister, Mark Drakeford says he was "hugely privileged" to have worked alongside Rhodri Morgan, the former first minister of Wales who died in 2017, who he descirbed as a "giant of Welsh politics".

Drakeford says he hoped he led a "way through Covid which made people in Wales feel that they were being kept safe".

The 69-year-old said that in some ways it had been forgotten how fearful people were in March 2020. He said you could "feel it" in the contributions made in the Senedd at the time.

Joking about his mum, he would occasionally speak to her after she saw him on TV in first minister's questions. Asked if he was "any good", she would reply: "I wasn't listening."

He said he looked forward to being a backbencher. To laughs, he told the Senedd: "I look very much to being a nuisance to you all, other than the first minister.

Mr Drakeford is given another round of applause from the Senedd.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Image source, Welsh government

Rhun ap Iorwerth said "no doubt" Drakeford's time as first minister was "derailed somewhat" by the Covid pandemic.

But the Plaid leader told the Senedd that Drakeford guided Wales with "empathy, concern and kindness, in stark contrast to UK government, demonstrating the personal qualities we demand of those who seek the highest office".

Mr ap Iorwerth said he was "very proud" of what Plaid Cymru had achieved with the Welsh government through the co-operation deal, where the two work together on major policies like free school meals and reforming the Welsh government.

"Mark brought thoughtfulness and good grace to public life at a time when such qualities were needed the most," he said.

Image source, Welsh government

They've often been Senedd sparring partners but Mark Drakeford’s main rival in the Welsh Parliament chamber got emotional while thanking the departing first minister.

Senedd Conservative Welsh leader Andrew RT Davies referenced a “heated exchange” between the pair, and said people have approached him saying the two must “hate” each other.

“That is not hate. That is passion, that is conviction, and that is what politics should be about – and that is what you have brought to the role of first minister," Davies tells Drakeford.

He was also grateful for a letter he received from Drakeford when he was ill, growing emotional as he spoke.

“That kindness was greatly appreciated and meant a lot to me at the time," he said.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Mark Drakeford was given a standing ovation by the whole Senedd as he wound up his speech.

It came after he reflected on an event he attended to mark the Aberfan disaster when he met two women who had been school teachers present in the school on that day, when more than 100 primary school children lost their lives.

Drakeford said he felt "that sense of so many people did on that day in 1966 of a duty of care, not simply to our friends and our neighbours but to people who we will never know, and will never meet"

"These are the great strengths of the nation that we are," the departing first minister tells the Senedd.

"They sustained me in the most difficult times that we faced."

He finished saying he was "most grateful of all to the people that we are lucky enough to serve".

Image source, Welsh government

Mark Drakeford grew emotional and had to pause briefly as the departing first minister touched on the death of his wife Clare while he was in power.

“The last 12 months have been the hardest and the saddest of my life,” he tells the Senedd.

Drakeford adds “people will not see beyond the chamber those small acts of kindness that happened every day from people in every part of this chamber”.

He said they had helped him get through those "very, very difficult times".

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

In his speech, Mark Drakeford says in his five years as first minister saw him work with "four prime ministers, five chancellors of the exchequer, six chancellors of the duchy of lancaster and I’ve lost count of the different ministers further down the pecking order we’ve had to deal with".

He said he had answered questions from six different party leaders in the Senedd over the last five years.

Drakeford said he had led a "radical reforming government". Giving an example of one of his early decisions, he said his first major decision to scrap the M4 Relief Road around Newport had been taken because it was not "in the long term interests of Wales".

"If you're in the business of progressive politics.... your job is to stick to the things that you believe will make the greatest difference," he tells the chamber.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Mark Drakeford starts his resignation statement and is applauded as he starts.

"Later this evening, I will submit my resignation as first minister to the King."

He tells his Senedd members he has been speaking "almost continuously this afternoon" since proceedings began at 13:30.

"After this afternoon, everyone will be looking forward to hearing quite a bit less from me!"

He said it was "just before Christmas 2018" that he first spoke in the Senedd as first minister.

"It was certainly impossible to predict the state of perma-crisis we were about to enter," he told fellow Senedd members.

'Senedd should focus on generating light than heat'published at 15:43 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March

15:43 GMT 19 March

Daniel Davies
BBC Wales political correspondent

Mark Drakeford's formal resignation to the Senedd is due shortly but let us reflect on his final First Minister's Questions earlier.

On becoming FM, Drakeford said he wasn’t looking forward to his weekly question time - where the leader spends an hour on their feet in the chamber being asked about all manner of things.

Today he reflected on the “hours and hours” of preparation these grillings have consumed every week, like revising for an exam.

“You prepare the whole weekend swotting, preparing for the question you hope might come up,” he told the chamber.

Sitting up here in the public gallery of the chamber this afternoon, we’ve been reminded how different the Senedd is to the House of Commons

There’s a lot less shouting in Cardiff Bay. Questions - and answers - are a lot longer.

Cricket fan Drakeford got to warm up this afternoon when Labour backbenchers bowled him a couple of easy under-arm efforts. Nevertheless, Drakeford says he hopes that in future Senedd members “focus a little bit more on generating light than generating heat”.

Steffan Messenger
BBC Wales Environment Correspondent

Image source, EPA

We've already heard about Mark Drakeford's pride about his 20mph policy - and one of his biggest decisions in his first year as first minister was to do with roads.

If you recall, he scrapped plans for a new M4 relief road around Newport over protected wildlife habitat on the Gwent Levels - before scrapping new road projects altogether.

It set the tone for his premiership and he would go on to say he wanted to put the environment at the heart of his government's work.

He appointed a minister and deputy minister dedicated to climate change and brought in bold if controversial policies like the review of major road-building schemes, a move which even attracted Greta Thunberg's attention.

Wales also upgraded its legally-binding targets on cutting carbon emissions under Mark Drakeford - aiming for net zero by 2050, a more ambitious ask than government climate advisors had initially recommended.

Environmentalists complain of slower progress though in setting up similar goals on reversing nature loss.

He ends his time at the top amidst an almighty row with farmers over the government's plans to replace their subsidies with greener grants in future.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

First Minister's Questions may be over but Mark Drakeford is now leading a debate on the independent commission he set up on the constitution.

The commission said that it would be "viable" for Wales to leave the UK, but would face a "significant" challenge to raise enough tax revenue for public services.

Its report said transferring further powers from Westminster and creating a federal UK were also viable options, and called for immediate changes including handing powers over justice, policing and rail infrastructure to Cardiff.

Mr Drakeford, who does not support independence, said the report was a "vital contribution to our devolution journey in Wales".

The Welsh Conservatives do not endorse the report. Tory MS Mark Isherwood said: "We recognize that future devolution of powers now or in the foreseeable future is both unnecessary and unsafe".

Chris Mason
Political editor

So while Mark Drakeford's health legacy in Wales is dominated by the Covid pandemic, last week he blamed drunks for the Welsh Labour government never once meeting its waiting time target in hospital accident and emergency departments.

He told me last week that “many, many people who wait in hospital to be treated are not sitting there waiting in pain, they’re sitting there waiting because they’re drunk”.

He suggested it would be better if the target didn’t include those who had had too much to drink.

“A more sensible system would not count them,” he said.

The accident and emergency target is that 95% of patients should spend less than four hours from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge.

Jenny Rees, Wales health correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

As Mark Drakeford's premiership in Wales comes to an end, let's look at his legacy - and it's hard to unpick it in health when a pandemic's legacy is louder and larger than anything politics might have had a hand in.

And so leading a nation through Covid will be a huge part of Drakeford's CV as first minister but the toll on the health of the NHS is huge.

The numbers working in the NHS have increased, and waiting times in some areas have improved since the peak of the pandemic but in so many areas, waiting lists and times for treatment or diagnostics are still significant.

But given those pressures on the system, there's also been a shift to move away from the traditional limited entry points of GP or A&E, with the introduction of NHS 111, same day emergency care units and a greater role for pharmacies.