Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has announced he intends to resign at a news conference. He has faced growing pressure from inside his governing Liberal Party after a surge in support for the opposition Conservatives in the polls.
The favourites to replace Trudeau
This list is just of Liberal politicians who could run to replace him as leader of the party (and therefore be prime minister), not an exhaustive list of other party leaders who could become premier at the next election (which could be as late as October).
Chrystia Freeland
Readers may remember that Chrystia Freeland made headlines just a few weeks ago, when she announced her stunning resignation from Mr Trudeau’s cabinet.
The former finance minister had previously been a fierce ally to the long-serving PM, but she left citing disagreements with him amid rumours he was set to replace her.
She leads polling to take over as Liberal leader now Mr Trudeau has stood aside.
Mark Carney
Here’s one our UK readers may be more familiar with.
The former head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England is a Liberal who has been serving most recently as a special adviser to Mr Trudeau.
Some experts view him as a potentially unifying figure in a turbulent time for his party, although some MPs are said to be sceptical, seeing as Mr Carney is not currently an elected official.
He’s said to have spoken to dozens of Liberal MPs in recent weeks as he weighs up his future.
Christy Clark
The former premier of British Columbia has recently expressed an interest in any potential Liberal leadership contest.
While she’s been out of the limelight in recent years, Ms Clark has been a vocal critic of the Trudeau administration, saying: “Canadians are tired of divisive politics and want leaders who offer practical solutions to pressing issues such as the cost of living, housing, healthcare, and climate change.”
Dominic LeBlanc
Canada’s minister of finance and intergovernmental affairswas one of the outgoing PMs closest political allies and friends.
He took over from the aforementioned Chrystia Freeland as finance minister when she resigned.
It’s not clear whether Mr LeBlanc is interested in taking over from his friend, but he previously ran for leadership in 2008, losing out to Michael Ignatieff.
Melanie Joly
The sitting minister of foreign affairs studied at Oxford University in the UK, and has impressively navigated some political challenges with India and China in recent months. (Skynews)
