Who will replace Trudeau as Canada’s Liberal party leader?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will resign in the coming months after nine years in power

He also was unable to recover after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and loyal ministers, resigned from the Cabinet last month.

Trudeau said on Monday he would stay on both as prime minister and Liberal head until the party chooses a new leader to take it into the next election, which must be held by late October this year.

The Liberals need to elect a new leader before Parliament resumes on March 24 because all three opposition parties said they plan to use a no-confidence vote against the Liberal party at the first opportunity, which would trigger an election. The new leader might not be prime minister for long.

, bowing to legislators alarmed by his Liberal Party’s miserable pre-election polling numbers.

Trudeau, the 53-year-old son of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers, became deeply unpopular with voters over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing, as well as surging immigration.

Freeland, a member of parliament for Toronto, is considered to be the early frontrunner for Trudeau’s replacement. She is regarded as a credible and stable alternative to Trudeau, and in polls, she fares the best among Liberal politicians before elections.

A former journalist, Freeland worked for the Financial Times, the Globe and Mail, and Thomson Reuters. She marked her transition from journalism to politics in 2013, winning a by-election in Toronto’s University-Rosedale riding as a Liberal candidate.

During her time as Canada’s finance minister – the first woman to ever hold the position – Freeland played a central role in negotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Trudeau told Freeland last month he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for US-Canada relations.

An official close to Freeland told the Associated Press news agency that Freeland could not continue serving as a minister knowing she no longer enjoyed Trudeau’s confidence. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, added that Freeland would talk to her colleagues this week and discuss next steps.

Among her reasons for stepping down, Freeland said she disagreed with Trudeau over how to respond to Trump’s threat to impose a 25-percent tariff on Canadian goods.

After she resigned, Trump called Freeland “totally toxic” and “not at all conducive to making deals”.