Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen Today I am not looking for votes. I am, instead, giving a vote of thanks. I am thanking my colleagues, my staff, my family and indeed my friends for all they have done for me in my political career. Any thing I achieved I achieved because of their hard work, their support and their understanding. The things I didn't achieve were, of course, entirely due to the vagaries of politics! …showed first 75 words of 641 total…

…showed last 75 words of 641 total…my time in office achieved one thing. That is that I made many, many good friends. I am very glad that from now on I will have time to talk to them about the really important things in life such as their grandchildren or their golf handicap. Politics is my past. My interest is in the future. After all, as the old saying goes I am going to spend the rest of my life there.