Labour AMs Edwina Hart and Gwenda Thomas to leave assembly

Gwenda Thomas and Edwina Hart are both from the assembly class of '99'

Gower AM Edwina Hart and Neath AM Gwenda Thomas are to stand down at the 2016 assembly election.

Currently economy and transport minister, Mrs Hart's previous posts included local government and health.

Mrs Thomas has been deputy social services minister, chaired committees and led a safeguarding children review.

The announcements follow news that Labour Llanelli AM Keith Davies is also leaving Cardiff Bay next year.

All three AMs are expected to tell their constituency Labour parties of their decision to stand down on Friday evening.

Mrs Hart said it had been an "honour and a privilege" to serve her constituency for 16 years.

"I am very grateful for the support they have given me during this time, and I will continue to represent their views vigorously until the end of the assembly term next year," she added.

Mrs Thomas said: "It has been a privilege to be part of Wales' political journey, but most of all, I am happy to have had the chance to work for communities I love and call home."

First Minister Carwyn Jones paid tribute to the women, and added: "I know that for both Gwenda and Edwina, representing their 'home' areas was incredibly important to them - and both Neath and Gower are losing very talented and passionate advocates."

A major figure on the Welsh political scene, Mrs Hart showed leadership when she took the decision to dramatically shrink the number of health boards in 2008, just five years after a previous reorganisation under a predecessor.

But she lost out to Carwyn Jones in the battle for Welsh Labour's top job a year later.

More recently, she has been at the centre of a major row over plans for an M4 relief road, the decision on which will now be taken by another minister after the election.

The announcement by Mrs Hart that she is leaving the Senedd follows a shock general election result in her Gower constituency.

Labour lost a seat it had held for more than a century to the Conservatives.

Gwenda Thomas will be 74 when she leaves the Senedd in 2016

Also an AM since the assembly's creation in 1999, Mrs Thomas has been regarded as a strong voice for her Neath constituency, offering support to the local community at the time of the Gleision mine disaster.

As a deputy minister, she steered a major piece of legislation overhauling social services through the assembly and also chaired the housing and equal opportunities committees.

The departure of Mrs Hart and Mrs Thomas from Cardiff Bay, in addition to Mr Davies, means the Labour benches in the Senedd will look rather different in 2016, regardless of the outcome of the assembly poll.