SIR Christopher Wren was the leading architect of London’s reconstruction after the great fire of 1666.

He lies buried beneath the floor of his most famous building, St Paul’s Cathedral.

No elaborate tomb marks the site of his burial.

Instead, there is an inscription on the floor.

It says: “If you are searching for his monument, look around.”

Last month in the National Assembly I referred to this and asked what would retiring first minister’s monument be if we looked around Wales today.

It would be a much less edifying prospect.

When he stood for the post of first minister nine years ago, Carwyn Jones set out his vision for Wales in his leadership manifesto.

He said “our priority has to be that we protect public services like the NHS and education.”

The reality however turned out rather different.

During his period in office his government inflicted real term cuts to the health budget in Wales.

Key performance targets have not been met.

In December 2009, not one patient waited longer than 36 weeks for treatment.

Today, that figure is more than 13,500.

In December 2009, 225,000patients were waiting to start treatment.

Today, nearly 444,000 patients are on a waiting list.

Performance against both the four and 12-hour targets in Welsh emergency departments has deteriorated.

The Urgent Cancer Treatment referral target which says patients referred by the urgent route should start treatment in 62 days has never been met.

Carwyn Jones pledged to increase education spending by one per cent above the block grant.

However, since 2011 his Welsh Government delivered real term cuts in education spending.

GCSE performance has worsened.

The summer of 2018 saw the worst attainment of GCSE top grades since 2005.

The International PISA assessment reveals Wales as having the worst performing education system in the UK.

PISA scores for reading, maths and science are worse than in 2009, placing Wales in the bottom half of the OECD global rankings.

Wales doesn’t need more of the same.

Now we have a new year and a new first minister.

Mark Drakeford’s government must change direction and deliver the promised improvements in our NHS and education system as a matter of urgency.