Key scores with BoJo

Prime Minister John Key may not have got quite what he wanted out of his big day of meetings in the United Kingdom - but he did get a job offer from London's Mayor, Boris Johnson.

The match between Mr Key and Mr Johnson was always going to be one made in heaven. Last year, they came second and third in the BuzzFeed website's "Most Ridiculous World Leaders" rankings courtesy of their unfortunate photo opportunities - in Mr Key's case, the three-handed shake at the Rugby World Cup and in Mr Johnson's, getting stuck on a zipline in the leadup to the London Olympics.

Before Mr Key arrived, Mr Johnson could be heard singing Alouette.

The real music to Mr Key's ears was what Mr Johnson said after that meeting. Two hours earlier, Mr Key had hit a brick wall in his meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron over immigration rights for New Zealanders.

Mr Johnson advocated a labour mobility zone between Britain, New Zealand and Australia.

Unfortunately, his powers do not include being able to write British immigration policies. Instead, Mr Key proposed that Mr Johnson himself could join the skilled migrant ranks by taking part in the local body elections in NZ this year. "If you want to come down and run for mayor, feel free."

In return, upon hearing Mr Key's father was British, Mr Johnson proposed Mr Key could run for PM of the United Kingdom.

Finally they exchanged gifts.

For Mr Johnson, two bottles of New Zealand wine. For Mr Key, a toy double-decker bus and Mr Johnson's book Johnson's Life of London.

Such was the bonhomie that although the Londoners refer to Mr Johnson alone as BoJo in an abbreviation of his name, the same term could also be used to refer to the partnership of Boris and John.