It’s time to elect a First Minister who looks ahead to the next 25 years of devolution, the First Minister has said.

The First Minister was asked what his plans were for stepping down from the role by Al Jazeera news in Doha.

“I’ve been part of the Senedd for the first quarter of a century. It’s time we elected somebody who looks ahead to the next 25 years,” he said.

Mark Drakeford spent his formative period in politics in the office of former First Minister Rhodri Morgan, before standing for election in his former Cardiff West seat.

He added however that his plans were to stay in the role for five years. That would take him to the end of next year.

“I said in the very beginning when I was first standing for the leadership of my party that I thought five years was the sort of period that somebody doing this job in the modern era should think about doing it,” he said.

“I’m not quite there yet, but I’m well over halfway there.

“I would never walk away from the job when the going was tough for there were difficult decisions that needed to be made, but the time will come during this Senedd term.”

He added: “I don’t think in terms of a legacy to be honest, I think I’d be happy with an epitaph that said he came into work every day and you try to do his best.”

Mark Drakeford added that on stepping down he would like to return to the world of university teaching.

“There are many things I will be very keen to do when I don’t have to spend as much time doing what I do now,” he said. “As you said, I spend most of my working life in the university and I hugely miss teaching.

“I miss being with young people I miss the excitement you get with watching young people learn and sometimes being able to pass on some things to them that they may find useful.

“So I’d very much like to be able to go back and do a little bit of that.

“My poor neglected allotment to look forward to seeing a bit more of me than it normally does. and there are even family members who might like to spend a bit more time in my company.”