Ardern, Davis will lead coalition talks

Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis will lead Labour’s coalition negotiation team.

Speaking following Labour’s first caucus meeting yesterday, Ardern said the two would form part of the core coalition negotiating team that would meet with NZ First and the Green Party.

Davis and NZ First’s Winston Peters are friends, as well as drinking buddies and relatives.

Ardern said she would not reveal the remaining members of the core negotiating team, other than to say she would be ‘‘drawing on senior experience’’.

When asked if former prime Minister Helen Clark would step in to help with negotiations, she said Clark was busy with travel at the moment.

Ardern’s chief of staff has reached out to Winston Peters’ chief of staff to say Labour is ready to talk when they are.

However, Ardern was yet to speak to Peters directly.

Labour deputy leader Davis again said he was willing to step aside to allow Winston Peters to have the position of deputy Prime Minister, if needed.

Peters, who has held the position of deputy Prime Minister before, said ‘‘been there, done that’’, when asked whether he was gunning for the position of secondin-command.

However, he had not ruled it out, and neither had National or Labour.

Yesterday, Davis said Ardern becoming Prime Minister was what mattered.

‘‘My priority is to make sure Jacinda Ardern is the Prime Minister... If it has to be it has to be,’’ Davis said.

‘‘It’s not something we’d give up lightly but Jacinda being the Prime Minister is the main focus here.’’