With 23 years of public service in the city behind him, speculation will now start on what the future holds for the former Bayfield High school teacher who spent five terms on the Dunedin City Council and three terms as an MP.
He lost a bitter selection battle for the Labour Party nomination at the start of the year and announced yesterday he would not contest the election, urging people to cast their party votes for Labour.
He has always led with the chin, right from the days when he was a member of the Dunedin City Council.
Mr Benson-Pope gave no hints yesterday about what his future might hold but it will likely include some form of public office, either as an appointed member of a board or perhaps as part of an elected Dunedin city council.
He is regarded as a no-nonsense man prepared to take on tough jobs and deliver results. Today, Finance Minister Michael Cullen will sign off on an aquaculture agreement started years ago when Mr Benson-Pope was fisheries minister.
On behalf of Prime Minister Helen Clark, Mr Benson-Pope steered through Parliament the Civil Unions legislation and the care of children laws that helped protect children, no matter who was caring for them. The social legacy of the Clark Government will have much to thank Mr Benson-Pope for, when books are written about Miss Clark's time at the top.
Even after being dumped by the party machine, he remained loyal to Labour and was helping Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson and Miss Clark yesterday as Labour launched its campaign.
Mr Benson-Pope was being groomed to become education minister when allegations surfaced in 2005 that while a teacher in the 1980s he had caned pupils until they bled, jammed a tennis ball into a boy's mouth and when the boy took it out, taped his hands to a desk.
There were also allegations he once smacked a boy with the back of his hand and made the pupil's nose bleed. The police report found there was a prima facie case for assault but did not charge him.
Miss Clark sacked Mr Benson-Pope as a minister for misleading the public about Madeleine Setchell's dismissal from the Ministry for the Environment. Despite the general clearance following a State Services Commission investigation, he remained on the outer.
Asked yesterday about what he was most proud of as an MP, Mr Benson-Pope pointed to his work as fishing minister, the funding he achieved for Dunedin schools but was particularly proud of the Care of Children Act and the Social Security Amendment Amendment Act.
The social security legislation ensures everyone on a benefit (such as sickness and disability) will receive case management supervision from Work and Income, not restricting the help to those on an unemployment benefit.
Since replacing Dr Cullen as the MP for Dunedin South, Mr Benson-Pope has increased his majority in the seat to one of the largest for Labour in the country at around 10,000.
Biography timeline
• Born Dunedin, February 23, 1950.
• Married to Jan Flood; they have twins.
• Educated: Kings High School, University of Otago, Christchurch Teachers College.
• 1986: Elected to Dunedin City Council.
• 1999: Elected MP for Dunedin South with nearly 10,000-vote majority.
• 2002: Government whip.
• 2004: Elected to Cabinet.
• 2007: Resigned as a minister on July 27.
• 2008: Defeated as Labour's Dunedin South candidate on February 2.
• 2008: Announces on October 11 he will not contest the election.
