The biggest question following her departure is whether the £1bn M4 relief road plans will succeed
Edwina Hart has been a defining figure in Welsh devolution.
She oversaw a dramatic reduction in the number of boards running the Welsh NHS.
More recently, she helped define a new era of economic development following the abolition of the Welsh Development Agency.
There are no other Welsh government departments with a personal stamp on it like hers, and I understand she enjoys a degree of autonomy that is not afforded to any other minister.
Despite criticism, her approach has been unashamedly interventionist.
It is impossible to say whether the Welsh government would have bought Cardiff Airport for £52m two years ago without her - but the decision had the Edwina Hart stamp all over it.
If something is failing in the private sector, Mrs Hart believes in using the levers at her disposal to step in.
Without great fanfare, she built up the Welsh government's property portfolio to try to inject life into the economy after the recession and she has proposed what would, in effect, be the re-nationalisation of the biggest rail franchise in Wales.
The biggest question following her departure is whether plans for the £1bn M4 relief road around Newport will succeed without its biggest champion driving it through.
