Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been named the next Canadian prime minister after winning his party leadership vote in a landslide.
Carney won 85.9 per cent of the vote in the Liberal Party leadership contest and will succeed Justin Trudeau, who has been in office for nine years.
He served as the 120th governor of the Bank of England from 2013–2020, leading the UK economy through Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carney was the first non-Brit to lead the central bank in the institution’s over three-century history. He reduced the number of interest rate meetings from 12 to 8 each year.
The former central bank boss became an election favourite following the country’s conflict with the Trump Administration after the President slapped 25 per cent tariffs on many Canadian imports.
The country responded swiftly by imposing £16bn worth of retaliatory tariffs on items such as American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, and appliances.
In his victory speech, Carney blasted Trump’s “unjustified tariffs” and “attacks” on Canadian families, workers and businesses.
Carney to ‘diversify’ economy from US
Carney is expected to be sworn into office in the coming days and will lead his party in the country’s next general election, which could be called in a matter of weeks.
The new prime minister ran a broadly centrist agenda, marking a break from Trudeau, who had pivoted the Liberals towards the left.
Carney had pledged housing and clean energy investments as well as to liberalise trade within Canada.
He had also made calls to diversify the economy award from the US.
The Liberal Party is currently operating in a minority government and has seen a surge of support following Trump’s trade threats and increased interest in making Canada the “51st state”.
Canada’s conservative party had led the polls in the beginning of the year by as much as 20 points, before a boom in support saw the Liberals bounce back.
Being introduced by his daughter Cleo after his win, Carney said: “Who is ready to stand up for Canada with me?
“Yes Canada, the Liberal Party is united and strong and ready to fight to build an even better country.”
Referencing Donald Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st US state, Carney said: “We have made this the greatest country in the world and now our neighbours want to take us. No way.”
He also said Americans “want our resources, water, our land, our country”.
He added: “Think about it. If they succeeded, they would destroy our way of life … America is a melting pot. Canada is a mosaic.
“America is not Canada. Canada will never ever be part of America in any way, shape or form.”