British Media Hammering Canada's New PM

"While there are many explanations for a period between 2013 and 2020 when the United Kingdom experienced a notable decline growth, living standards and productivity during the years that Mark Carney was governor of the Bank of England, the 'rock star Governor' clearly did nothing to improve the performance of the British economy."

"[That would be of course, the man with a] reverse Midas touch."

The Telegraph, London, England

 

"[Some of the Bank of England's more] dire [Brexit predictions under Mark Carney never came to pass]."

"If you go back to the period after the referendum, there were pretty dire predictions about the consequences of Brexit for the financial services world ... and I think so far those effects have been smaller."

Andrew Bailey, Carney's successor as Governor of the Bank of England

 

"Untangling the country's [Canada's] fortunes from the United States would require a radical remaking of the economy."

"That is something that Mark Carney, a technocratic centrist, is unlikely to do."

The New Statesman, London 

Mark Carney speaks to the media in Calgary, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh 

 

 

Canada's spanking new 24th Prime Minister has occasioned a spurt of commentary from British pundits, warning Canada that it has acquired a leader of questionable merit -- for however brief a period of time, if a soon-to-be-announced federal election cuts his honeymoon short -- that the man just elected as the governing Liberal Party head following the resignation of former PM Justin Trudeau has a somewhat unsavoury history linked to his last public-sector job as Governor of the Bank of England.

 

Memories in Britain are not that short that they cannot conjure up the recent past when Carney was Governor of the Bank of England between 2013 and 2020, a period distinguished by a notable decline in growth, living standards and general productivity. One article in The Telegraph made reference to Carney as the "high priest of Project Fear", referring to his role in the 2016 anti-Brexit campaign. Marvelling that Carney appears to have "charmed Canadians" and "is now the figure most trusted by his countrymen to stand up to (U.S. President Donald) Trump."

 

In 2018 the pro-Brexit Conservative politician Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke of Carney as a "second-tier Canadian politician" who "got a job in the U.K." after "having failed" at Canadian politics. Having never held elected office, Carney became the Governor of the Bank of Canada during the financial crisis of 2008 under the then-Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He chose to cut his 7-year term short in 2013 to accept the Bank of England top job.

 

The Spectator U.K. magazine drew parallels between Carney's Brexit prophecies, his uber-concerning warning about climate change and his more recent warning relating to the economic threat Canada is facing under Trump. "Canadians should be aware that fear is possibly the most-used wrench in their new prime minister's tool box", columnist Jane Stannus wrote.