Leighton Andrews, a divisive but forward-thinking politician, lost his Rhondda seat in the recent Assembly elections.
The blow came three years after he was sacked over a row about the closure of a school in his constituency. Mr Andrews spent more than three years as education minister – and they were eventful ones.
In 2010, when the UK government trebled the cost of tuition fees, he spared Welsh students the raise by masterminding a plan to meet the extra costs through Assembly government funds. Welsh-domiciled students would receive the subsidy wherever in the UK they chose to study. He said at the time: “We do not support full-cost or near full-cost fees. We do not believe that higher education should be organised on the basis of a market. Higher education should be on the basis of the individual’s potential to benefit, and not on the basis of what they can afford to pay.”
He also got into a long-running battle with former Westminster education secretary Michael Gove after he decided to re-grade tainted GCSE English papers in September 2012 unlike Mr Gove. Mr Andrews stood by his decision and Mr Gove backed down.
But despite the sense that he was trying to ensure Wales went its own way over education, his combative manner meant that he did not always see eye-to-eye with teaching unions, although they recognised his commitment to improving school performance.
He stood down from his education role in 2013 when he was adjudged to have broken the Ministerial Code by campaigning against the closure of a primary school in his constituency.
He then became publics services minister in a Welsh government reshuffle in September 2014.