[5] In the lead-up to the election, Stanhope played a major role in the Bruce Stadium affair that led to the resignation of the then Chief Minister, Kate Carnell.

Stanhope, who was in a second helicopter with crew and the ACT head of the bushfire services, Peter Lucas-Smith, had responded to the stricken pilot's Mayday call.

Stanhope faced a no-confidence motion in the Assembly from the Liberal opposition, which if passed meant he would have been forced to resign as Chief Minister.

The coronial inquest into the bushfire was released in mid-December 2006, and found significant bureaucratic failings contributed to the devastation, although it also claimed shortcomings at a political level.

[8] Citing concerns about the removal of basic human rights, Stanhope later refused to sign a revised version of the legislation, becoming the only state or territory leader to do so.

The budget included massive rate rises, across the board fee hikes, a change in the ACT's emergency services management and the proposed closure of 38 schools and colleges through consolidation.

Additionally the decision regarding distribution of the education budget prompted outcry in one Australian newspaper, with the Sydney-based Daily Telegraph labelling him "Stanhope-less" and an "economic vandal" on the front page of a special ACT edition.

When Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007, replacing John Howard, Stanhope became the country's longest-serving incumbent head of government.

[16] At the 2008 ACT general election, Stanhope led the Labor Party to win sufficient seats to form a minority government, again with a hung parliament.

[28] Stanhope accepted a professorial fellowship in the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, based at the University of Canberra, commencing in August 2011.