Mark Carney’s centre-left Liberal Party has officially won the 2025 Canadian federal election. The Liberal Party won 169 ridings (constituencies) of the available 343 in the House of Commons.
According to Canada’s parliamentary system, which is similar to the UK’s Westminster Model, this means Mark Carney will form a minority administration. Carney will have to work with minority parties to pass legislation.
Nevertheless, the result marks a significant reversal in the Party’s fortunes, as they had been trailing their Conservative Party rivals by as much as 20 points in January.
US President Donald Trump helped change the calculus. President Trump began referring to then-Liberal Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, as the 51st Governor – a reference to Canada becoming America’s 51st state.
This undermined Pierre Poilievre’s centre-right Conservative Party, which campaigned on reducing immigration, abolishing an unpopular carbon tax, and building homes to improve the lives of Canadians.
In January, Trudeau resigned due to poor approval ratings. The ensuing leadership election pitted Carney, a former Bank of Canada and Bank of England Governor, against Chrystya Freeland, who served as Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Carney won and became Canada’s Prime Minister.
As soon as he assumed office in March, Carney abandoned the unpopular carbon tax and announced a federal election. During the election, Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and frequent comments about Canada becoming the 51st state brought the country’s sovereignty to the forefront of the political discussion.
Carney campaigned on his experience as an economist who led the Bank of Canada through the 2007-08 Financial Crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit. This experience contrasted with Poilievre, who had been an MP for over 20 years.
Poilievre also suffered from his association with President Trump. This was despite his criticism of Trump for not being sufficiently supportive of Ukraine and his call for Canada to become the 51st state during the election campaign.
Poilievre’s endorsements from prominent pro-Trump figures, such as Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, strengthened this association in the Canadian public’s mind. Carney also compared Poilievre’s comments that Canada was broken to Trump’s campaign style, saying one could not beat Trump when you are playing from his “playbook.”
In contrast, Carney was seen as the politician who could stand up to Trump. Slogans like “Canada Strong” and “Elbows Up,” a reference to Canada’s hockey victory against America, featured heavily in the Liberal Party’s campaign.
This strategy worked for Carney. Having previously faced electoral oblivion, the Liberal Party won 17 more ridings compared to the last election, securing votes from the Green Party and the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP).
Although Poilievre’s Conservative Party won 24 more ridings than at the last election, their tally was only 144. Poilievre also lost his Carleton riding to the Liberal Party.
With Carney now secure as Prime Minister, many now consider him the voice of the global centre-left opposition to President Trump. Carney will now have to face down Trump’s threats of annexation.
This will be a developing story that The Student will be reporting on.
“Mark Carney, Governor” by Bank of England is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.