What BoJo’s new job means for NZ

British PM may be our mate but his priority has to be sorting out UK’s European exit

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister were quick to say that Boris Johnson’s elevation to British Prime Minister will be good for our nation. Since his very first visit here in 2017 it has been said that Johnson is a friend of New Zealand.

Winston Peters established a special rapport with Johnson quickly as Foreign Ministers together. So did Gerry Brownlee, who hosted him in New Zealand, and Murray McCully before that.

Johnson’s hail-fellow-well-met style ensures he establishes a connection with people all over the

world, as evidenced by the haste with which Twitter became littered with “me and Boris” pictures on Tuesday night.

No one would diminish the value and symbolism of his sharing Churchill’s wartime bunker with Peters, a fellow Churchill aficionado, on a visit to London.

But PM Jacinda Ardern, at least, is realistic about the limits of that friendship for Britain, a country teetering on turmoil.

Johnson has raised the prospect of what might be called a “four-eyes free travel” arrangement between Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

And he has talked about New Zealand being at the front or near the front of the queue for a free trade agreement (FTA).

His expressions of friendship may be sincere and his intentions good.

But even if New Zealand were at or near the front of the bilateral FTA queue, getting to that queue could be several years away.

The two main current options for Britain leaving the European Union — by remaining in its trading Customs Union for a couple more years while negotiations continue or by crashing out without an agreement in a hard Brexit — will not change its primary imperative.

That will be to address its trading relationship with the EU. Crisis or no crisis, election or no election, Britain’s businesses will expect negotiating a deal with the EU to be its No 1 priority.

Until that is settled, nothing else will get a look in.

Britain’s second priority will be to begin a free trade deal with the largest economy in the world and its closest ally, the United States.

As well as negotiating an FTA with the EU, New Zealand is as ready as it could be for when Britain gives it the green light for talks to begin.

But there is no privately drafted deal ready to be inked as soon as Britain has sorted out its mess with Europe.

And one of the biggest headaches for New Zealand will be to sort out the existing quotas held by the European Union, and whether they are allocated to Britain or EU.

A new political relationship may have to be forged if Liam Fox is dumped as International Trade Minister.

It is fortuitous that Trade Minister David Parker is going to London next week in another capacity and may be able to meet his new counterpart.

But that is a convenient coincidence. It does not mean New Zealand gets a head start.

Nothing in Brexit moves quickly.