According to Justin Trudeau, Mark Carney was always reluctant to enter the world of politics.

The former premier, who was forced to resign earlier this year as his approval ratings nosedived, approached him last year and asked him to join his cabinet. Mr Carney, 60, declined to do so.

“He would be an outstanding addition at a time when Canadians need good people to step up in politics,” Mr Trudeau said last summer.

Less than a year later, after Mr Trudeau quit under pressure from colleagues who feared Canada’s Liberal Party would be defeated with him as its leader, Mr Carney joined the contest to replace him.

He overcame several challengers, the most significant of them being Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister, to win in a landslide and become leader, and therefore prime minister.