Final Senedd meeting is end of an era before big changes
Senedd Commission"It's like bringing a plane in to land after a long journey," Elin Jones, the Senedd's Llywydd or Presiding Officer, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast this morning.
"But I think we should be prepared for a dramatic take-off."
The Welsh Parliament, with Jones in the pilot seat, meets for the final time on Wednesday before the Senedd election on 7 May.
It marks the end of an era, as the new Senedd will not only be bigger, it will be elected under a different system and there could be a new party in charge after 27 years.
A pattern is now emerging in opinion polls, with once dominant Labour battling it out for third with the Greens, as Plaid Cymru and Reform vie for top spot.
ITV's latest poll, out on Tuesday night, suggested again that this could happen.
Labour's potential woes are well-documented.
Its opponents question its record after 27 years in power - especially on NHS waiting lists, standards in schools, the 20 mph law and spending priorities such as the Nation of Sanctuary Scheme.
Reform wants to make this election a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer, aware of how unpopular the Labour prime minister is in the polls.
Nigel Farage's party is promising to cut income tax, as are the Welsh Conservatives.
Plaid Cymru says it represents a radical alternative for voters and is trying to portray itself as a government in waiting.
A big expansion of childcare in Wales is one of its flagship offers.
The Greens are on a surge and along with the Liberal Democrats could end up as part of some kind of post-election deal, with no party likely to win a majority.
Labour labels its opponents as inexperienced and says they are promising policies that would mean cuts elsewhere and that they are not ready to govern.
But Eluned Morgan might be fighting against that most difficult of political enemies – that at some point voters have a natural desire for change.
As outgoing Labour Senedd member, Julie Morgan, put it on the radio this morning: "There is, maybe, an inevitability after 27 years that people might want a change."
She added a caveat: "But will they pause to think about what they have gained?"
It will be strange not to come to Cardiff Bay for the best part of two months as the election campaign proper gets underway.
It will all look and sound very different when we get back.
I've experienced a couple of real-life dramatic take offs.
They are terrifying… and exhilarating.
Fasten your seatbelt then, there could be some turbulence en route.
