Mark Carney: the upstart ‘leader of the free world’

In March 2020, as COVID-19 began to have a serious impact on the world and countries entered lockdown, Mark Carney prepared to leave the position of Governor of the Bank of England, one he had held for seven years. Carney had been looking to depart a couple of years earlier but was convinced by Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond to stay on whilst Brexit negotiations took place. When he left the Bank of England in 2020, it was hard to see his position six years later as what it turned out to be: Prime Minister of Canada, and spokesman for the liberal international order and liberal values.

Carney had been mentioned in a political sense before his role as bank governor, approached to be Minister of Finance by Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2012 (according to Carney’s possibly dubious account), and approached to run for the Liberal Party leadership in 2013. Both times he declined the invitations. 

Carney was obviously quiet on the political front during his governorship in the City of London, but emerged as a political figure again in 2021, appearing at the Liberal Party convention. He, however, did not run in the 2021 Federal election, as he was at the time a financial advisor for the UK presidency of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, appointed to that position by British PM Boris Johnson. Carney was made chair of the Liberal Party’s Task Force on Economic Growth by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau in September 2024, and it would be Trudeau’s downfall and resignation on 6 January 2025 that would elevate Carney to the centre of Liberal Party and Canadian politics.

Carney easily defeated leadership rival Chrystia Freeland – whose resignation as Minister of Finance had Geoffrey Howe’d Trudeau and torpedoed his premiership - in the Liberal Party leadership contest and became Prime Minister on 14 March 2025. This was a notable appointment; Carney was not an MP at the time and became the first Canadian PM to have never held elected office before their accession to the premiership, as well as the first to come from Canada’s territories rather than its provinces. It did, however, appear that Carney’s time as PM would be short, as the opposition Conservative Party of Canada under Pierre Poilievre led by twenty points in opinion polling in the months leading to Trudeau’s resignation and Carney’s accession. Twelve months out, the election appeared to be a 2024 British general election-style foregone conclusion, where the opposition (the Conservatives) would sweep to power and leave the incumbent party in ruins. This did not happen, however, largely because of the person in charge on Canada’s southern border.

Carney’s victory in the 2025 Federal Election was largely caused by his ‘elbows up’ approach against US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions against Canada. As is well documented, Trump sought to make Canada the US’s fifty-first state and imposed tariffs due to questionable reasons on Ottawa. Trump referred to Trudeau as ‘Governor Trudeau’ (and often refers to Carney by the same title now), and Canadians became increasingly wary and sceptical of their American allies, emboldened to take the fight to Washington DC. Poilievre was hurt by his association as a ‘Canadian Trump’ due to his populist rhetoric and aggressive social media communication, and witnessed a ‘rally round the flag’ go against him and the Canadian Conservatives because of this. Carney was therefore able to overturn the twenty-point deficit in the polls to win the popular vote in the Federal Election, and the most seats, just three short of a majority. Carney masterminded one of the greatest electoral comebacks in history, with a bit of unintended help from Trump.

Whilst Carney has, in some capacity, cooperated with Trump since becoming Prime Minister – it would be hard for a Canadian PM to not do so – in recent weeks a feisty rhetoric and trade war have resurfaced. For his response to Trump, Carney is seen by many liberal-minded people and parties across the Western world as an example and leader of their anti-populist resistance. 

Carney’s speech at Davos in January 2026 on the erosion of the rules-based international order and the need for middle power cooperation sparked inspiration across the Western world, and anger from Trump’s White House. The current trade conflict between the US and Canada is the embodiment of the Carney-Davos philosophy, and represents Canada’s drift towards other partners and opportunities. Carney’s speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in September 2026 only furthered this shift, where he welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s invitation to Canada to become the European Union’s first ‘Associate Member’ and stressed the need for close ties between Canada and Europe. 

The US, and other powers like the UK, EU, Australia and New Zealand, will be extremely interested in how Canada and Carney look to build momentum for new partnerships in the world of changing alliances and norms. Trump has threatened further measures against Canada if it seeks closer ties with the EU, but Carney has so far seemed uninterested in bowing to US demands. He instead appears to be attempting to reshape Canada’s foreign policy, and offer an opportunity to like-minded figures and states across the world to chart a new course: one away from American hegemony and domination, and towards an upholding of the liberal international order, the rule of law and cooperative relations. Carney may therefore be eligible to be labelled a competing ‘leader of the free world’ if his words translate into tangible actions.

Image: © European Union 2026 - Source: EP