Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won Canada’s federal election on Monday, and his wife of 30 years, Diana Fox Carney, was by his side. Fox Carney, a British-Canadian economist, environmentalist and author, has been less visible on the campaign trail than Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s wife, Anaida.
Still, as Canada’s unofficial first lady, Fox Carney has been thrust into the spotlight all the same. Following Carney’s win on election night, Fox Carney took to the podium to thank supporters for “choosing [her] husband’s vision.”
“I’ve watched my husband listen and learn. I’ve watched him inspire confidence and take on new skills. But most of all, I’ve seen him remain true to what he’s always been: Consistent, compassionate, loyal and driven by an exceptionally strong set of values,” she said.
“He’s thoughtful, respectful and honest. I think and hope that you now have come to appreciate that alongside his capacity for dealing with the most serious of matters, he has a great mind for trivia, a wicked sense of humour and a wonderful smile,” she told the crowd. “He’s been that way since our very first date back when we were young grad students when we went to that dinner and he said to me, he stopped the conversation and he said to me, ‘I want you to know that I am committed to move back to Canada and to work in the public service.'”
Diana Fox Carney, wife of Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney, addresses volunteers and supporters during the Canada Strong Election Night event in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on April 28, 2025. (Photo by Artur Widak/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Does Canada have a First Lady?
Unlike the title and role of First Lady in the United States, as the spouse of Canada’s Prime Minister, Fox Carney has no official title, office or address. However, as the prime minister’s wife, she can use her position and influence to champion various causes and represent Canada in a quasi-official capacity. While she was married to Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau often spoke about women’s rights, mental health issues and eating disorders. Laureen Harper, the spouse of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, once told The Globe and Mail that the prime minister’s wife “can have a big role, a small role, whatever.”
Who is Diana Fox Carney, wife of Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney?She’s British-Canadian and highly educated
Fox Carney grew up in rural England and is the daughter of a pig farmer. She and Carney met at the University of Oxford, where she obtained a Master of Arts degree in philosophy, politics and economics and a Master of Science degree in agricultural economics. She also holds a master of arts in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
She met Carney while playing hockey
Fox Carney was an avid hockey player at Oxford. “[She] could run rings around everyone,” teammate Nonie Dodwell told the Toronto Star. “She was an excellent skater and player, very natural.”
It was from the ice that Fox Carney caught the eye of the future prime minister. “Mark was watching an ice hockey game that Diana was playing in and he asked someone, ‘Who’s that person over there?'” longtime friend Laurie Thomson told the Toronto Star. “She was by far the best player on the team and he was impressed, I guess.”
The couple married a few years later.
Today, her hockey allegiances are unknown, but her husband is a bonafide Edmonton Oilers superfan.
Mark Carney shows his support of the Edmonton Oilers as he addresses supporters and the media in Edmonton as the campaign ends ahead of the federal election. (Photo by Ron Palmer/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Carneys share four daughters
Following their wedding in 1994, the couple went on to welcome four daughters: Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha. Cleo, a student at Harvard University, described her dad (starting at 1:31:58) as “focused and principled” as well as “funny and kind” on election night in March 2025.
In an interview with the Toronto Star, a longtime friend said Fox Carney “devoted her life to her kids.”
She’s an economist, an environmentalist and an author
While her husband famously held roles at the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, Fox Carney is an expert economist in her own right.
She specializes in developing nations, having previously served as the vice president of Canada 2020 — a think tank focused on climate, energy, social mobility and inequality — before becoming the Institute for Public Policy Research’s director of strategy and engagement, according to People.
Fox Carney has been on the board of several charities, including Save the Children and has acted as an advisory board member at a technology metals company and a growth equity fund investing in climate solutions, among others.
“When I think of Diana, I think of someone who … cares deeply about the natural world and believes that it’s our responsibility to look after it for the benefit of our children and future generations,” Thomson told the Toronto Star. “That drives a lot of what she does.”
Fox Carney has authored two academic publications, and from 2011 to 2014, she ran a blog where she reviewed eco-friendly products.
How Diana Fox Carney showed up on the campaign trail
Compared to Anaida Poilievre and Gurkiran Kaur, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s wife, the Canadian public has had less time to get to know Fox Carney.
Throughout the election campaign, Fox Carney made relatively few appearances. She publicly spoke on election night, April 28, and addressed supporters in Mississauga, Ont. on April 26, but overall, has had less of a vocal presence on the campaign trail than others.
In contrast, Anaida Poilievre took on an “outsized role” in her husband’s campaign, attending rallies and giving speeches.
Who is Anaida Poilievre, wife of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre?
Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre (R) and his wife Anaida wave to the crowd at the Conservative election party at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa, Ontario on April 28, 2025. (Photo by Geoff Robins / AFP) (Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Anaida Poilievre, a former political staffer and mother of two, was front and centre on her husband’s campaign trail.
Like her husband, she has spent most of her working life in politics, spending nearly eight years in the Senate and another seven in the House of Commons before dedicating herself fully to Pierre’s campaign in 2022.
She designed Pierre’s merchandise, built a strong social media following and set up an online magazine titled Pretty & Smart Co. in 2019. In her own words, she has been more than “just a prop” for the Tory leader and has been a key figure in the Conservative campaign.
She and Pierre share two children, Cruz and Valentina.
Who is Gurkiran Kaur, wife of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh?
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and his wife Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu arrive at CBC-Radio-Canada to participate in the English Federal Leaders Debate broadcast, in Montreal, Canada, on April 17, 2025. (Photo by Andrej Ivanov / AFP) (Photo by ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Following the results of Monday’s election, Jagmeet Singh announced he was resigning as NDP leader after losing his seat, with his wife Gurkiran Kaur, joining him on stage for the announcement.
Similar to Fox Carney, Kaur has occasionally joined Singh during the campaign and, like Anaida Poilievre, has shared glimpses of the couple’s life on the trail on social media.
The couple met as students at York University and married in 2018. They have two children, Anhad and Dani.
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