On 6 January 2025, Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau resigned in the face of a slew of political and economic challenges which collapsed his ruling coalition.
The Liberal Party, in power since 2015, has become increasingly unpopular on the back of several coinciding crises, including housing, immigration, but most importantly the deteriorating standard of living in the country.
On 9 March 2025, Mark Carney beat out four other candidates to become the new leader of the Liberal Party. And he has a strong mandate having secured a whopping 85.9% of the vote.
Early life and career
Carney was born on 16 March 1965 in Canada's northwestern region. At the age of six, his family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where his parents worked in education. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Harvard University, and then a Master's and Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University. In his youth, Carney worked various jobs to earn pocket money, including shovelling snow, selling newspapers, and, in the summer, working as a garden designer at a local hospital.
He met his wife, Diana Fox—a British economist specialising in developing countries—while studying at Oxford. She is an activist dedicated to environmental and social justice causes. They married in 1994 and have four daughters.
Apart from his Canadian citizenship, Carney also has British and Irish citizenship (his grandfather emigrated to Canada from Ireland.) According to The Irish Times, Carney plans to renounce his other two citizenships.
An avid hockey fan, Carney was goalkeeper at Harvard University and assisted in managing the Oxford University team. His wife was also a member of Oxford's women's hockey team.
Carney worked at Goldman Sachs for 13 years, eventually rising to the position of Managing Director, where he gained extensive experience in financial markets. He then became the second-youngest governor of the Bank of Canada, serving from 2008 to 2013. He then made history as the first foreigner appointed as Governor of the Bank of England—a role he held from 2013 to 2020. He stayed on for another two years to assist with the UK's transition out of the European Union (Brexit).
As Chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) from 2011 to 2018, Carney spearheaded international efforts to reform global financial systems in the wake of the 2008 crisis. He later served as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance from 2020 to 2025, focusing on climate change while advocating for sustainable finance and net-zero carbon emissions.
From 2020 to 2025, Carney also held the position of Vice Chair at Brookfield Asset Management, providing advice on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategies.
As Governor of the Bank of Canada, Carney implemented stringent monetary policies, including interest rate cuts and liquidity provision, which helped Canada avoid the worst of the 2008-2009 recession. The banking system remained notably stable compared to its international counterparts.
He also managed monetary policy at the Bank of England during the Brexit in 2016, reducing interest rates and introducing stimulus measures to stabilise the markets. As Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, Carney led key reforms such as "Basel III," strengthening bank capital requirements and mitigating systemic risks in the global financial system.
In 2015, Carney co-founded the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which developed reporting standards for companies on climate risks, which have since been widely adopted globally.
