Those budding relationships with the Stormont parties were quickly tested as old arguments about funding for the executive resurfaced.
Months into the job, Benn gave a speech at Ulster University arguing that if the executive wanted to improve public services, it should look at some ways of revenue raising rather than relying on the Treasury for help.
That plea, just like with calls made by his predecessors, fell on deaf ears as the executive parties maintained Northern Ireland was getting a raw financial deal and on at least one occasion, Westminster stepped in to bridge the budgetary gaps.
As for other gaps in Labour’s policy approach in Northern Ireland, the big promise it had made in its election manifesto was to repeal and replace the controversial Troubles legacy act.
Passed under Rishi Sunak’s government, parts of it including conditional immunity were deemed unlawful by the courts, while victims and political parties in Northern Ireland had no confidence in it.
But it soon became clear that repealing the previous legislation was one thing; how to replace it quite another.
At time of writing the legislation is still sitting in the Commons, with no sight of the government’s amendments on proposed protections for veterans or how it will command confidence of victims and survivors.
The next prime minister, while aware of his government’s legal duties, may not want to expend as much political capital on the issue as his predecessor did.