I didn't read other people's valedictories before preparing these remarks, you can probably tell. The only thing I read in advance was my maiden speech from 2008. I liked it. It was a pretty good speech that may age better than this one. In it, I finished with something Tony Blair said in his valedictory to the House of Commons. Seeing as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern worked for him, and my boss for another day or two, Chris Luxon, likes his third way, I thought I'd quote it again: "to all my colleagues from different political parties. Some may belittle politics, but we who are engaged in it know that it is where people stand tall. Although I know it has many harsh contentions, it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster. If it is, on occasions, the place of low skulduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes." 