He had spent too long arguing about political issues, and discussing and thinking about them, to stop now.
"I’ll still be making statements about policies I think are damaging to our community and to our city, in particular," he said.
However, an end-of-an-era party had been suggested and might well happen.
Cr Benson-Pope, 75, is the only Dunedin city councillor who is not seeking re-election.
His first period in local government started in 1986 and ended in 1999, when he was elected to Parliament for the Labour Party in the Dunedin South electorate.
He had nine years in government, became his party’s senior whip in 2002 and entered Cabinet in 2004.
His national politics career ended in 2008, and he returned to the Dunedin City Council in 2013, serving four more terms.
Asked to compare his two stretches in local government, Cr Benson-Pope said there tended to be more relitigation of decision-making now and the relationship with central government was more combative.
He felt the first council was quite visionary.
The 1986 council under Sir Cliff Skeggs was when urban design considerations became more prominent and they had been a lasting theme since, he said. The council’s 1991 decision to buy the Dunedin Railway Station, subsequently refurbished, was one example.
Cr Benson-Pope noted the council designated the Smooth Hill site for waste disposal in the 1990s.
"And no matter what you think of the project, you would have had bigger trouble trying to find an appropriate site now, that is for sure."
He was comfortable with councils having political groupings.
"Without having sounding boards and people you can discuss things with and people you trust, I think you make much weaker decisions," he said.
Cr Benson-Pope was reluctant to traverse controversies from his time as an MP, including "dated allegations that had no substance".
Highlights from his second period as a city councillor included campaigning for the city’s new hospital to be built within the central city.
One big regret was the city being unable to get on with developing the waterfront.
"It was all lined up ... and along came Covid."
Cr Benson-Pope summed up his political philosophy as advocacy for the common good and community and social interests, rather than private interests.
He would follow the Dunedin council election results with great interest, he said.
