have been handled this week has led to a loss of credibility and on that basis I have accepted Mr Benson-Pope's offer to stand aside". An editorial commented, "Not for the first time, he and the Government have been embarrassed less for what he has done than for his inability to simply say what he has done." Despite subsequent investigations by State Services Commissioner Mark Prebble and former State Services Commissioner Don Hunn found that neither the Minister nor his staff acted in any way inappropriately, Benson-Pope remained a backbencher for the remainder of the parliamentary term. His resignation triggered a significant reshuffle of the Cabinet. Although Clark indicated that Benson-Pope could be returned to Cabinet at a later time, he was not reselected as the Labour Party candidate for his electorate at the 2008 general election (which, in any event, Labour lost), and left Parliament. Local government career After losing his bid to remain Labour's Dunedin South candidate for the 2008 general election, Benson-Pope rejected an invitation to stand for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and did not stand as an independent candidate. Returning to Dunedin, Benson-Pope worked as a resource consent manager and sought election to the Dunedin City Council (DCC) in the 2013 local body elections. He stood as an independent candidate and was elected on 12 October 2013. He was re-elected in 2016, 2019 and 2022. He was a senior member of the dcc under mayors Dave Cull and Aaron Hawkins and chaired the council's planning and regulatory committee from 2013 until 2022. During a live-streamed Zoom meeting of the DCC held on 5 May 2020, Benson-Pope was seen in the camera of his computer cleaning his study with a feather duster whilst "pants-less". Members of the public, councillors and senior managers watched on as the meeting faced technological difficulties. Benson-Pope said he was not wearing pants but was wearing shorts after gardening earlier in the day and stated he was "delighted" that his cameo provided a welcome diversion but "it wasn't intentional." Benson-Pope was re-elected to the Dunedin City Council for a fourth term during the 2022 Dunedin local elections. He was not given a chair or deputy chair role within the Dunedin City Council by the new Mayor of Dunedin Jules Radich. Benson-Pope and Walker claimed that Radich had offered them committee roles which he knew they would reject. The mayor's proposed councillor salaries