►
Description
www.parliament.scot
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Motion of Condolence
That the Parliament expresses its deep sadness at the death of The Rt Hon Sir Alex Fergusson DL; offers its sympathy and condolences to his family and friends; appreciates his wide contribution to public life, particularly his distinguished tenure as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, and recognises the high esteem in which he was held by colleagues from all parties and the principled, dedicated and considered way he represented the people of Galloway and West Dumfries.
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A
He
came
to
this
place,
having
lived
a
life
outside
of
politics
and
he
never
lost
that
real-world.
Take
on
the
issues
before
us.
Alex
was
both
impassioned
and
knowledgeable
on
matters
relating
to
rural
Scotland
and
in
particular,
on
issues
affecting
the
southwest
of
this
country,
allied
to
his
natural
good
humour,
his
intelligence
and
approachability.
A
It
was
a
year
when
the
people
of
Scotland
decided
to
elect
our
first
ever
minority
government,
a
situation
which
gave
rise
to
new
political
challenges
to
match
that
changing
political
dynamic
in
those
unchartered
waters.
The
Parliament
needed
someone
who
could
be
trusted
who
was
fair
and
balanced,
someone
who
was
liked
and
respected
across
the
parties
and,
of
course
we
turned
to
Alex,
but
as
I
alluded
to
earlier,
Alex
was
not
a
career
politician.
He
did
not
seek
high
office.
A
He
got
into
Pollock's
later
than
most
out
of
a
sense
of
duty
and
service
and
to
give
voice
to
the
issues
and
causes
he
believed
in
at
Westminster.
Mps
play
out
a
little
scene
on
the
election
of
their
chosen
speaker
when
the
successful
candidate
is
dragged
reluctantly
from
the
green
benches
to
the
speaker's
chair
and
with
Alex.
A
A
When
news
came
of
Alex's
untimely
death,
I
was
struck
not
only
by
the
kind
words
of
fellow
msps,
but
by
the
fondness
with
which
he
was
remembered
by
the
parliamentary
staff
from
those
who
worked
alongside
him
in
private
office
to
the
Clarkes
researchers,
IT
and
other
support
staff.
It
was
apparent
that
the
feelings
of
shock
and
sadness
were
not
exclusive
kind
words
for
a
man
who
always
had
a
kind
word
to
those.
He
made
a
true
gentleman
in
saying
goodbye
to
Alex.
A
Parliament
is
saying
goodbye
to
a
good
friend
who
made
a
great
mark
on
this
place.
Our
thoughts
and
prayers
are
very
much
with
his
wife.
Maren
and
the
wider
family
who
were
honored
to
have
with
us
in
the
public
gallery
today
goodbye
presenting
officer
goodbye
Alex.
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
service
and
friendship
and
now
call
on
Ruth
Davidson
to
move
the
motion
of
condolence.
A
B
You
presenting
officer
in
August
memorial
service,
first
Alex
Ferguson,
that
you
attended,
along
with
your
predecessors,
the
Deputy
First
Minister
and
many
others
here
today,
we
came
together
to
commemorate
a
life,
well
lived
a
life
of
public
service,
of
duty
and
of
profound
decency.
Today
we
come
together
again
and
it's
his
right
and
fitting
that
this
Parliament
meets
to
remember
one
of
its
own,
our
third
presiding
officer,
the
first
that
we
have
lost
a
politician
who
served
here
for
17
years
and
I.
B
B
B
For
me,
the
most
telling
contribution
was
the
comment
that
was
relayed
from
one
of
Alex's
medical
staff.
Who
said
that
they'd
watched
the
family
around
him
in
his
final
days
and
what
a
closeness
and
the
love
he
saw
between
them.
What
a
legacy
we
are
so
pleased
today
to
be
able
to
welcome
his
wife,
Maren,
his
mother,
Ori
old
brother,
JG,
sister
Henrietta
and
youngest
son
Christopher
to
the
Parliament.
We
thank
you
for
lending
Alex
to
us
even
for
a
short
time.
B
It
was
time
well
spent
for
the
Scottish
Conservatives
Alex's
death
has
left
a
huge
hole,
but
it
is
right
to
say
today
that
he
was
first
and
foremost
a
parliamentarian,
and
it
is
this
Parliament
which
mourns
him
together
today.
It's
fitting
to
that.
Today
we
welcomed
60
peoples
from
dal,
BT,
High
School
in
Alex's
patch,
as
a
champion
of
the
region
and
of
young
people
in
interest
in
politics.
He
would
have
loved
to
have
seen
you
all
here
cos.
Alex
was
not
a
career
audition.
B
He
was
a
farmer
taking
over
management
of
the
family
farm
and
bar
and
Carrick
in
1971.
He
was
soon
getting
involved
in
life
beyond
the
farm
gate.
As
the
former
MSP
Murray
Tosh,
his
close
colleague
and
friend,
has
observed.
He
felt
his
own
beloved
southwest
of
Scotland
had
its
own
distinct
interests,
which
needed
to
be
represented
more
effectively,
and
so
it
was
from
his
own
lived
experience
that
his
political
career
began
characteristically
for
a
Scottish
conservators.
B
His
first
attempt
to
get
into
politics
failed,
but
when
he
stood
for
the
South
character
in
1995,
but
he
had
got
the
bog
and
when
in
1997
the
devolution
referendum
was
passed,
he
decided
to
stand
for
this
new
Parliament.
He
was
always
a
committed
evolutionist,
something
that
he
was
to
pursue
all
his
career,
including
as
a
member
of
the
party
Strathclyde
Commission,
which
in
2014
recommended
a
series
of
wide-ranging
increases
in
the
parliaments,
powers
in
the
1999
election.
B
He
did
not
win
his
constituency,
but
he
was
elected
on
the
party
list
and
as
one
of
a
hundred
and
twenty-nine
new
MSPs,
he
student
stood
out
The
Scotsman,
diarist,
Rab,
MacNeil,
Wyndham
Hercules,
thanks
to
his
fine
public
bearing
and
a
star
turn
alongside
Alex
Johnson
in
the
annual
tug-of-war,
the
ribbing
was
always
affectionate
and
when
Alex
retired
in
2016
Rab
was
to
declare
it's
a
great
shame,
he's
retiring
because
for
a
Tory
he
came
heavily
disguised
as
a
human
being
and
I
couldn't
possibly
comment.
But
Alex
stood
out
in
other
ways
too.
B
He
didn't
go
in
for
personal
attacks
and
had
fine
relations
with
Alistair
Morgan,
the
SNP
MSP
who'd
beaten
him
to
the
gallery
in
Opera
in
a
steel
constituency,
but
people
soon
learned
not
to
mistake
his
personal
courtesy
for
weakness
on
the
issues
that
matter
to
him.
He
was
tough
and
uncompromising,
as
David
Mandela
said
last
month,
when
foot-in-mouth
hit
in
2001
alex
emerged
as
the
most
dogged
and
best
informed
challenger
of
the
scottish
executives
handling
of
the
crisis.
B
That
was
because
in
private
he
was
everyday
speaking
to
individual
farmers
and
businesses
from
all
over
Scotland
listening
to
their
concerns,
offering
support
and
connecting
them
to
people
in
power
in
2003
that
hard
work
paid
off
when
he
won
the
gala.
We
in
Opera,
in
a
steel
seat
and
four
years
later
after
another
term
putting
the
interests
of
his
constituents.
First,
he
increased
his
majority
from
99
to
3333.
B
It
was
2007,
the
SNP
had
just
won
the
election
by
a
single
seat,
and
neither
SNP
nor
labour
were
able
to
give
up
an
MSP
for
the
vacant
post
of
presiding
officer,
so
Alex
was
sounded
out.
His
first
concern
was
whether,
in
that
job
he
would
still
be
able
to
represent
his
constituents.
Having
been
assured
that
that
was
the
case
he
took
it
on
and
faced
with
the
unprecedented
nature
of
minority
government.
B
His
courtesy,
his
wise
judgement
and
steel
enos
were
to
stand
him
in
good
stead,
whether
in
reprimanding
the
former
Labour
MSP
George
folks
were
on
parliamentary
behavior,
because
there
are
always
small
pleasures
in
politics
or
in
dealing
with
SMP
ministers
to
ensure
the
business
of
government
kept
going,
and
he
was
a
fine
representative
of
Parliament
outside
of
it
too.
In
2009,
he
took
a
delicate
delicate
of
MSP
to
New
Zealand
and
during
the
visit,
the
group
were
informed
that
they
were
due
to
go
to
a
Maori,
which
is
a
sacred
place
in
Maori.
B
Culture
could
is
a
standard
practice
for
the
Maori
host,
to
sing
to
their
guests
and
for
the
guests
to
respond
in
turn
and
as
a
man
of
music
and
a
folk
singer
of
some
renown.
Alex
wasn't
going
to
let
that
challenge.
Go
missing
and
I'm
told
that
he
therefore
hustled
Ted
Brocklebank
Ross
Feeney,
Ruda,
Grant
and
Sandra
Hoyt
into
a
kind
of
Scotland's
Got
Talent
outfit
with
Alex,
demanding
that
they
spent
the
entire
evening
practicing
how
to
sing
Psalm
23,
because
he
always
did
like
a
shepherd
and
I'm
told
that
the
Scottish
Parliament's
choirs
rendition.
B
He
continued
to
campaign
for
Scotland's
3rd
National,
Park
and
I
hope
very
much
with
the
campaign
continuing
the
creation
of
such
a
park
and
gala.
We
may
just
be
a
legacy
for
him
three
weeks
before
he
died,
he
was
still
commentating
when
two
of
our
Scottish
Conservative
group
brought
her
a
joint
piece
from
opposite
side
of
the
debate.
Backing
a
compromise
deal
on
brexit
Alec
to
Twitter
to
declare
was
her
welcome
and
sensible
dose
of
straight-up
no-nonsense
common
sense
more
pleased.
He
knew
full
well
at
that
point
that
he
wouldn't
see.
B
Brexit
negotiations
conclude,
but
he
was
still
engaged
still
passionate,
still
urging
the
practical,
realistic
way
forward
and
my
words
couldn't
we
do
with
more
Alex
Ferguson's
right
now
for
all
his
titles
and
honours
and
appointments.
Alex
was
simply
a
good
man,
a
lover
of
sports,
of
music
of
Barnes,
of
a
decent
meal,
a
glass
of
wine
and
a
whisky,
a
family
and
a
friends
of
his
community,
a
man.
He
knew
that
we
are
nothing
unless
we
uphold
the
ties
that
bind
us
who
understood
that
common
courtesy
is
important.
B
That
passionate
debate
is
vital,
that
politics
is
about
service
to
others
and
not
to
oneself,
and
at
that
wonderful
memorial
service
in
August.
We
were
all
reminded
too
that
he
was
a
family
man
who
was
so
proud
of
his
three
sons
and
the
wider
family,
a
family
who
gave
him
a
send-off
to
remember
the
example
and
the
humanity
of
Sir
Alex
Ferguson
will
stay
in
our
hearts
for
some
time
to
come.
We
offer
his
family
our
deepest
condolences
in
their
loss
and
I
move.
The
motion
in
my
name.
C
Officer
on
behalf
of
the
SNP
and
the
Scottish
Government,
let
me
join
in
supporting
the
motion
from
Ruth
Davidson,
like
all
of
us
across
this
Parliament
I,
was
so
very
saddened
to
hear
of
Sir,
Alex,
Ferguson's,
passing
and
I'm
very
glad
that
his
family
are
able
to
join
us
today.
To
hear
us
pay
tribute
to
a
very
special
human
being,
as
we've
heard
already,
frontline
in
politics
did
come
to
Alex
relatively
late
in
his
life
before
his
election.
C
In
my
view,
embodied
that
spirit
better
than
ours,
my
personal
memories
of
Alex
when
I
first
got
to
know
him
would
have
someone
who
was
just
as
concerned
about
upholding
the
reputation
of
this
Parliament
as
he
was
about
advancing
his
own
political
beliefs.
He
had
the
particular
gift
of
being
able
to
argue
his
own
case
with
Reger,
and
he
did
I
hurt
you
with
rigor,
while
remaining
on
the
friendliest
of
terms
with
political
opponents
across
the
chamber.
C
This
of
course
served
him
extremely
well
during
the
early
years
of
the
Parliament,
when
he
was
a
distinguished
King.
You
know
of
the
rural
development
committee
has
periods
as
chair
of
that
committee
coincided
with
the
aftermath
of
the
food
in
mouth
outbreak
in
2001,
and
the
passage
of
the
protection
of
wild
mammals
act
on
hunting
and
I.
Think
it's
there's
a
huge
amount
that
his
handling
of
these
and
other
sensitive
issues
only
served
to
enhance
his
reputation.
C
Colleagues
on
the
committee
recall
how
he
was
always
willing
to
take
on
and
off
his
political
hat,
reminding
different
parties
of
the
bigger
picture
and
highlighting
to
msps
that
being
political
opponents
did
not
have
to
mean
becoming
political
enemies,
and
perhaps
all
of
us
would
do
well
to
remember
that
in
the
times
we
live
in
today.
These
traits
of
course
received
fitting
recognition
in
2007
when
Alex
became
the
Scottish
Parliament's
third
presiding
officer.
C
At
the
time
of
his
election,
his
predecessor,
George,
read,
said
that
and
I
quote,
you
have
just
elected
a
decent
and
honorable
man
to
hate
this
house.
George's
remark
was
borne
out
completely
by
Alex
time
in
office.
Alec,
of
course,
as
you
presenting
officer
have
noted,
was
the
first
presiding
officer
to
serve
during
a
period
of
minority
government
as
I
am
sure
you
recognize
presiding
officer.
That
is
not
always
a
straightforward
task.
C
However.
He
was
highly
effective
in
his
rule
laws
on
the
SNP
Ben.
She
sat
in
the
Parliament's
Business
Bureau
during
those
years
talk
about
the
important
role
the
Alex
played
banging
heads
together
behind
the
scenes
when
that
was
necessary.
Above
all,
he
fostered
trust
between
the
parties,
business
managers,
enabling
them
and
turned
to
charter.
We
forward,
in
which
everyone
had
a
voice
and
in
public
in
this
chamber,
Alex,
always
cheered
proceedings
with
calm,
Authority
and
scrupulous
fairness.
C
This
meant
that
even
in
circumstances
which
could
have
been
contentious,
for
example,
when
he
used
his
casting
vote
to
defeat
a
budget
bill,
all
sides
understood
and
respected
the
reasons
for
his
decision.
Even
if
I
miss
see
it
might
have
taken
the
then
finance
secretary
some
time
to
realize
that
he
understood
and
respected
the
decision
of
the
presiding
officer,
but
that
approach
that
Alec
took
was
a
major
factor
in
the
success
of
that
third
Parliament.
C
Alice,
also
ensured
that
backbenchers
were
given
as
much
of
a
voice
in
Proceedings
as
possible,
and
he
was
not
afraid
to
put
his
foot
down
when
that
was
needed.
I'm
sure
I'm
not
the
only
front
bencher
here
today,
who
can
remember
developing
a
strange
sixth
sense
if
I
had
perhaps
gone
on
a
bit
too
long
in
my
answer,
which
of
course
I
really
do
the
Alec
was
peering
over
his
glasses
at
me
telling
me
to
get
on
with
it
and
his
presiding
officer.
Alex
was
also
a
fine
ambassador
for
Scotland
as
Ruth
Davidson.
C
It
has
noted,
for
example,
playing
a
really
important
role
in
supporting
and
strengthening
this
Parliament's
relationship
with
the
Malawi
Parliament,
presiding
officer
and
Alex
final
speech
in
this
chamber.
He
said
that
being
presiding
officer
with
her
was
a
privilege
and
an
honor
and
I'm,
quoting
him
here
when
he
said
that
it
came
close
to
that
of
serving
the
people.
C
So
now
it's
Ferguson
made
a
major
contribution
to
Scotland
as
a
whole,
but
there's
no
doubt
he
was
a
particular
champion
of
the
southwest.
It's
often
said
that
political
parties
are
like
big
extended
families.
That's
certainly
how
I
feel
about
my
own,
and
in
that
spirit
we
all
recognize
that
those
in
the
Scottish
conservative
benches
today
have
lost
one
of
their
most
revered
and
respected
family
members.
C
But
across
the
chamber
we
have
all
lost
a
colleague
and
a
friend,
someone
who
will
be
noted
in
future
years
as
having
played
a
pivotal
role
in
the
early
period
of
the
Scottish
Parliament.
But
no
one
will
feel
his
loss
more
than
his
family.
So
today,
as
we
mourn
Alec's
passing
and
as
we
mark
his
many
achievements,
we
also
offer
our
condolences
to
Meryn
Ian,
Dougal
and
Christopher
and
I've.
Also,
of
course,
Daleks,
mother
and
brother
who
join
us
today.
D
Thank
You
presiding
officer,
I
rise
on
behalf
of
the
Scottish
Labour
Party,
to
pay
tribute
to
Sir
Alex
Ferguson
and
to
support
this
motion.
Son
of
the
manse.
He
made
his
mark
in
the
first
days
of
this
Parliament
by
moving
a
motion
to
introduce
a
time
for
reflection
and
I,
went
back
to
look
at
his
inaugural
speech
in
that
debate.
I
strongly
believe.
D
He
began
in
Parliament
as
he
meant
to
go
on
making
a
great
impression
and
making
a
great
difference
on
the
24th
of
November
in
that
first
year
of
Parliament
upon
the
mound
in
a
debate
on
land
reform,
he
be
glad
he
began
by
declaring
for
interests.
I
am
a
landowner,
a
landlord,
a
farmer
and
a
member
of
the
Scottish
landowners
Federation
extraordinarily.
D
He
then
went
on
to
agree
with
a
young
radical
extra
parliamentary
land
reformer
called
Andy
Whiteman,
who
had
condemned
the
proposed
legislation
for
not
going
far
enough,
and
in
that
same
speech,
Alex
went
on
to
disagree
profoundly
with
one
Rosana
Cunningham,
whose
assertion
the
year
before
in
the
House
of
Commons,
that
what
was
needed
was,
and
I
quote,
the
ultimate
ownership
of
land
by
and
for
the
people
of
Scotland
was
lampooned
by
Alex.
That
system
he
said,
was
tried
by
the
Communists
and
look
what
happened
to
them.
D
I
also
read
his
final
contribution
to
Parliament,
which
was
on
the
16th
of
March
2016
in
the
debate
on
stage
three
of
the
land
reform
bill.
Now
the
act
in
which
he
said
that
he
supported
and
I
caught
him
greater
openness
and
transparency
to
land
ownership
and
I
reflect
that.
A
few
days
after
Alex
Ferguson's
death,
Colin,
Smith
and
I
visited
the
mull
of
galloway.
D
It
was
a
beautiful
day
and
we
went
to
the
mull
of
galloway
experience
climbing
up
the
lighthouse,
with
its
magnificent
views
of
Island,
the
Isle
of
Man,
but
also
back
over
the
rims
of
Galloway.
That
land
is
now
in
community
ownership,
which
has
brought
with
it
a
new
energy
and
a
new
purpose
and
I
couldn't
help
thinking
the
fact
that
it
had
transferred
to
community
ownership
from
state
ownership.
It
was
formerly
owned
by
the
northern
Lighthouse
Board
would
no
doubt
have
pleased
Alex.
D
He
was
a
greatly
respected
member
of
this
Parliament
demonstrated
by
the
widespread
support
that
he
received
when
he
put
his
name
forward
for
the
position
of
presiding
officer,
a
position,
as
others
have
said,
he
did
not
covet
but
took
on
out
of
a
sense
of
public
duty.
In
fact,
when
Holyrood
magazine
asked
about
why
he
wanted
to
become
presiding
officer,
he
replied
and
I
quote:
I
didn't
I
had
gone
into
the
election
in
2007,
defending
image,
a
majority
of
99
against
a
strong
SNP
challenge.
D
Having
taken
myself
off
the
list,
I
was
just
relieved
to
be
returned
to
Parliament,
with
a
significantly
increased
majority.
I
had
no
thoughts
of
anything
other
than
being
the
MSP
for
Galloway
and
openeth
still,
so
the
role
of
presiding
officer
came
and
found
me
not
the
other
way
around,
and
in
that
same
interview,
he
noted
that
he
didn't
find
it
difficult
to
put
to
one
side
his
party
politics
in
taking
up
the
role
of
presiding
officer.
D
In
fact,
he
said
that
not
attending
party
conferences
was
for
me
one
of
the
bonuses
of
the
role
of
all
the
labor
ms
peas,
I've,
asked
past
and
present
they
all
say
the
same.
He
was
good
humoured.
He
was
a
gentleman
decent.
If
you
were
under
fire
from
the
media,
which
occasionally
happens,
he
would
offer
words
of
encouragement
and
support
if
he
thought
that
you
had
made
a
good
speech,
he
would
make
a
point
of
saying
so
and
he
was
described
by
one
former
MSP
as
collegiate.
D
One
told
me
that
to
some
on
the
left
of
the
Labour
Party
in
those
early
days
of
the
Parliament,
the
idea
of
joining
a
cross-party
group
founded
by
an
old
Etonian
Tory,
was
not
an
immediately
obvious
move
to
make.
But
as
the
new
Parliament
settled
down
that
cross-party
approach
gained
in
preeminence
and
remains
a
feature
of
this
Parliament
today
since
leaving
Parliament
in
2016,
he
kept
himself
busy,
including
being
the
president
of
the
Scottish
campaign
for
national
parks.
He
was
particularly
excited
to
be
involved
in
making
Galloway
Scotland's
next
National,
Park
and
presiding
officer.
D
A
Galloway
National
Park
would
be
a
fitting
legacy
to
Alex
Ferguson.
His
retirement
was
too
short
lived.
There
was
much
more.
He
wanted
to
do
much
more,
that
he
could
have
done,
but
this
was
a
life
well-lived
and
so
on
behalf,
on
behalf
of
the
whole
Scottish
Labour
Party
I
extend
our
deepest
condolences
to
his
wife,
Maren,
his
three
sons,
Ian
Dougal
and
Christopher,
and
their
families,
his
mother
Oriole,
his
sister
Henrietta,
his
brother
John,
and
to
them
we
say
thank
you
for
sharing
this
gentleman
with
us.
E
Thank
You
presiding
officer,
there
have
been
a
number
of
these
occasions
over
the
years
when
we
gather
together
to
discuss
a
motion
of
condolence
for
one
of
our
members,
one
of
our
colleagues
who
we've
lost.
These
are
always
sad
moments,
but
I
think
there
are
also
moments
of
warmth
and
they
certainly
should
be
because
they
recognize.
Ultimately,
at
the
end
of
the
day,
we
are
all
human
beings
and
Alex
Ferguson
was
someone
whose
humanity
and
warmth
were
always
evident
in
the
way
he
did
the
job
hostility,
tribal
point-scoring.
E
The
role
of
presiding
officer
is
a
particular
service
to
the
whole
of
Parliament
and
a
service
that
I
think
was
probably
enhanced
in
Alex
Ferguson's
case,
because
he
hadn't
craved
the
role
every
session
of
Parliament
has
been
different:
the
beginnings
of
devolution
and
coalition,
a
rainbow
Parliament,
a
minority
government,
a
majority
single-party
government,
an
hour
session
dominated
by
constitutional
change
and
the
challenges
for
the
person
in
that
chair.
The
challenges
for
the
presiding
officer
are
different
on
every
occasion.
F
Alex
Ferguson
was
a
conservative
of
that
there
is
no
doubt
he
was
also
a
one
nation.
Conservative
are
caring,
conservative,
a
conservative
who
really
believed
in
devolution.
On
these
benches
we
saw
conservative
as
close
to
federalism
as
it
was
possible
to
be.
We
think
he
was
ahead
of
his
time.
Alex
was
in
1999
like
most
new
MSPs
new
to
front-line
politics
too,
as
Liv
Mandel
indolently
described
his
memorial
service,
the
pressure
lease
was
a
new
phenomenon
for
Alex,
but
he
took
well
to
political
life
for
him.
F
The
cheerful
discussion
about
the
news
of
politics,
the
travails
of
a
government
or
the
scrapes
of
a
political
friend
were
all
part
of
what
made
him
special.
He
was
a
servant
to
his
constituents
in
those
earlier
terms,
first
as
a
regional
representative
and
then
as
a
constituency
MSP
he
to
rural
issues
on
the
front
page,
he
was
a
voice
for
farmers
at
the
height
of
that
tragedy.
That
was
fruit
and
mouth
few
in
rural
Scotland,
especially
in
the
south
of
the
country,
were
not
affected.
F
F
He
was
an
ambassador
not
just
for
this
Parliament,
but
for
Scotland
to
wherever
Alex
led
overseas
Scotland
benefited
with
his
immaculate
manners,
his
personal
skills
and
his
sense
of
humor,
perhaps
his
fondest
that
was
when
he
returned
to
New
Zealand
with
a
delegation
returning
to
a
country
where
he
once
lived
and
what
he
stayed
close
to
colleagues
of
all
persuasions
as
presiding
officer,
he
said
that
his
time
was
all
the
richer
for
the
deeper
friendships
that
were
built
during
that
time.
He
was
conscious
in
2007,
two
of
them
that
the
Parliament
there
was
no
majority.
F
So
all
the
modern
meet
to
take
the
mood
of
members,
good,
bad
or
indifferent
Alex
was
a
force
of
stability
for
the
Parliament,
at
least
at
that
time
of
great
political
instability.
He
ensured
that
even
when
the
opposition
did
not
like
what
had
happened,
he
might
do
so
with
a
little
smile
on
their
face.
He
loved
cricket
and
who
would
be
better
than
a
former
preserving
officer
to
umpire
the
msps
vs.,
plays
cricket
much
like
all
good
umpires,
I'm
presiding
officers.
F
F
A
sense
of
humor
is
a
notable
asset,
an
ability
to
poke
fun
at
each
other,
laugh
at
one's
own
misfortune
and
at
once,
party
Alex
had
one
and
had
one
and
many
of
the
reasons
to
model
his
passing
above
all
else
is
that
what
we
will
do
limit
our
thoughts
are
with
Alex's
family.
He
was
one
of
us,
but
much
more
than
that.
He
was
yours
and
we
were
just
lucky
to
know
him.
Thank
you.