Peterborough MP chosen to lead parliamentary campaign to strengthen links between three continents

Mr Bristow has been appointed chair of the British All Party Parliamentary Group for #CANZUK to build closer links with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

It will put him at the heart of a new drive to champion stronger relationships with three so-called Anglosphere nations as the UK looks to complete its departure from the European Union.

Tweeting the appointment, Mr Bristow said: “We will make the case within Parliament for closer ties with our friends in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”

Afterwards, Mr Bristow said the cause was one he had long wanted to drive forward in Parliament.

He said: “It was something I have always wanted to champion in Parliament but to become Chair so quickly is significant and a privilege. I am very pleased to have the confidence of MPs and Peers from across all political parties.

“I had already volunteered to be a Vice Chair of the Group when I became Peterborough’s MP back in December last year.

“The founding Chair Bob Seely MP was no longer able to do it due to other commitments so I put myself forward.”

Mr Bristow said that it was important to strengthen ties across the world as the UK left the EU.

“Some of the most important relationships the UK has are with our Commonwealth friends, and in particular Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

“So many British expats live in these countries - far more than in the EU - and vice versa.

“We have the same legal system, speak the same language, some of the same traditions and shared historical experiences - and even the same Head of State.

My job - along with fellow members - is to try to and deepen the understating of the principals of CANZUK among UK politicians and more widely.

“This has widespread public support in UK and the other three countries. It’s an idea whose time has come.”

But Mr Bristow reassured constituents that his new role would not take him away from Peterborough.

He said: “Peterborough will always be my home and even a few nights in Westminster when the House of Commons is sitting seems too much to be away at times.

“The Group hasn’t organised any foreign travel for the future but I think a CANZUK conference in the UK sounds like a jolly good idea.”