Quips, No Slips But Lots Of Photocalls: How Boris Johnson Arrived On The World Stage As Prime Minister

But despite all the photocalls, the actual substance of the summit was more questionable. On Brexit, he made no progress at all in his talks with the EU’s Donald Tusk, aside from ramming home his message that he was serious about no-deal.

Johnson quipped about him and Tusk being “in completely glutinous agreement” on foreign policy issues like Iran, Russia and Hong Kong.

Yet he failed to propose any more detail on alternative plans for the Irish ‘backstop’. Sunday newspapers had been briefed that the UK would refuse to pay its ‘divorce bill’ in the event of no-deal, but Johnson made no mention of it in the meeting.

EU sources told the FT afterwards: “They have been telling the press they have new ideas and eventually they will come up. But they didn’t come up today. The brutal fact there is nothing.” 

On climate change, Johnson had made clear to Trump that the public mood was now firmly behind taking action. 

“One of the things the PM has been quite keen on is the idea that when we talk about climate change or when we talk about trade issues, that doesn’t always necessarily resonate to somebody back in the UK,” a UK government official had said on Monday.

“In Birmingham and Manchester, they want to know how these things impact them. Talking about loss of species, loss of rainforest, how it affects us, that’s maybe a more tangible issue that people can see climate change through the lens of.”

Yet his wooing of Trump appeared to hit the immovable object of ‘America First’ and the president’s scepticism of global agreements.

The president snubbed a Monday G7 session on protecting habitats from climate change, a key priority of Britain for the summit. Trump was simply not present as other leaders pledged to spend more money on protecting the Amazon and set a path to new targets.

And for all the British emphasis on biodiversity, White House aides made clear they wouldn’t be bounced on environmental issues by Marcon, with one suggesting climate change was a “niche issue”.

Trump, as ever, did things on his own terms, often with impromptu press ‘sprays’ and freewheeling news conferences.

In his meeting with Johnson, he talked about getting a UK-US trade deal as early as next June, something even the UK has thought highly unlikely.

“I’ve been waiting for him to be prime minister for about six years. I just think his time is right, this is a great time for Boris,” Trump said.

Johnson’s own press conference at the end of the summit was his first as prime minister. He took plenty of questions but studiously side-stepped most of them.

Crucially, he repeatedly refused to say if he would prorogue parliament if MPs tried to stop no-deal. He also had a veiled warning for Speaker John Bercow to respect ‘the will of the people’.

There were a couple of verbal flourishes – using Latin to play down suggestions  Philip Hammond had been smeared by Downing Street, stating the German car slogan Vorsprung Durch Technik to suggest tech solutions can solve climate change.

Yet underlining his new-found discipline that was lacking during the Tory leadership race and his spell as foreign secretary, he avoided any major slips or gaffes.

Johnson even tried to make light of his shifting stance on whether a no-deal was now more or less likely if Brussels refused his demand to remove the ‘backstop’ from May’s withdrawal agreement.

“You’ll remember that all statistical estimates that I give about the chances of a deal, whether they are expressed in odds of a million to one or ‘getting closer’, or hotter or colder, or whatever, they all depend exclusively on the willingness of our friends and partners to compromise on that crucial point: you get rid of the backstop in the current withdrawal agreement.”

The contrast between spin and reality was brought home by a European Commission official who had warned that the UK would get no new trade deal with the EU if it reneged on the multi-billion pound bills it still owed. Red carpets and red lines don’t often mix, even at the G7.

Still, for this prime minister the personal is the political.  Johnson aides are well used to building in ‘Boris Time’ to his schedule to allow for selfie requests from the public. On the tarmac in Biarritz, even local French gendarmes asked for a photo alongside him.

On the plane journey back the UK, he celebrated with a glass of red wine on board the RAF Voyager, then walked through the plane, tie off, and posed for photos with the air crew.

Johnson was pleased with the way the summit had gone. He knew he had a turbulent few weeks ahead in Westminster and in Brussels. Yet after years of wanting to become PM, it was hard to take the smile off his face that he was now part of the global leaders club.

On the flight out, he was asked if he was now getting used to being called ‘prime minister’. “Yes, yes, at last!,” he replied. “It took a while!”

As Britain  heads to that Halloween deadline for Brexit, the next few weeks will decide how long he’ll be in No.10 – and whether he can really enjoy it.