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Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Campaign mistakes were made, but none that 'changed the outcome,' says top Conservative operative
OTTAWA — Three months after the federal election, Pierre Poilievre's top advisor Jenni Byrne has broken her silence over the party's failed bid to form government. Byrne, a top Conservative operative and Poilievre ally, has been praised for her role in the party leader's meteoric rise in the polls during the Justin Trudeau era but also criticized for her role in the last federal election that saw the Liberals elected once again. For the first time since the April 28 election, Byrne spoke at length about the experience on the Beyond a Ballot podcast hosted by Rachael Segal. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Here are five things we learned about the sometimes venerated, often feared and much discussed Conservative operative who was Polievre's last campaign director. All campaign managers have regrets after a campaign, especially after losing the election. Byrne is no exception, though her response to the question about what she would do over was notable not because of what she listed, but because she said nothing she would do over in hindsight would ultimately have changed the result. 'I have a few do overs. None of them, I think, would have changed the outcome,' she told Segal. Reading between the lines suggests that Byrne feels like the loss to the Liberals may have been inevitable during an election centred mainly around U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier in the podcast, she said that making the campaign about Trump would have also played into the Liberals' hands. 'I think if we had gone down that road, it would have been an extremely bad mistake,' she said of having Poilievre focus more on Trump. In terms of do overs, Byrne cited two key regrets: realizing sooner that Poilievre might lose his longtime riding of Carleton (though 'I'm not sure what we could have done about it at the time') and making some different budgeting, personnel and campaign issue decisions. Byrne said people often say she likes to run a political show singlehandedly but argued that it's untrue that she did everything herself during the spring campaign. Byrne is frequently described as the key driving force behind Poilievre, from the moment he ran for leadership up until the last federal election. She's also been the target of much ire internally since election day on April 28, with many Conservative insiders and caucus members blaming her for the loss after dominating the Justin Trudeau-led Liberals in the polls for roughly 18 months. But she was far from alone on the team, Byrne told Segal. 'If they think that like I was like a one-person machine who was making every decision, ran the campaign by myself like I was some Rasputin or Svengali, then they don't know how campaigns are run. They don't know Pierre, they don't know senior-level people that we had in the campaign,' she argued. 'Some would say I'm aggressive. I actually don't think I'm that aggressive, or at least, I've mellowed in my older years,' she also said. Asked about Byrne's statement in confidence, two former campaign operatives scoffed. After holding key roles in the 2011, 2015 and 2025 federal elections, Byrne said she's taking a step back from a top official role come the next national campaign. The current advisor to Poilievre said that someone else will run the next Conservative campaign and she had no idea who that would be. 'I speak to people on a daily basis, and I'm going to… continue to do that. But I've stepped back from the day to day and and I'm not going to run the next campaign,' she said. She also sounded surprised by the amount of attention she's received as campaign director since the election. 'I do find it strange or perplexing that in all the years that I've been involved in politics, I've never seen post-campaign analysis focused on a campaign manager as much as what it has on me.' Poilievre may have attracted thousands at his campaign rallies — a fact he frequently flaunted during the campaign — that's not where Byrne was most comfortable. In fact, Byrne said she doesn't like large gatherings all that much personally. 'I think I'm actually, on a personal level, pretty much of a homebody. I don't like going out in crowds. I can count on one hand in the last five years how many receptions that I've been to,' she said. But one thing she does like is the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, which may come as a surprise for someone who grew up in Fenelon Falls, Ont., in the Kawartha Lakes area. Rarely do glasses and t-shirts make national headlines, but they did when Poilievre decided to ditch the former and don the latter earlier this year as part of a pre-campaign aesthetic makeover. Byrne says she had no role in Poilievre's decision to ditch the glasses and added that he's always been a fan of working out. 'Literally nothing to do with me,' she said. 'He said privately and publicly that Anna (Poilievre) prefers him without glasses,' she told Segal. National Post cnardi@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
2 days ago
- Politics
Jenni Byrne stands by not pivoting Poilievre to Trump, but won't run next election campaign
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's campaign manager Jenni Byrne says she won't be running her party's campaign in the next federal election and stands by her decision not to have pivoted the message in the last campaign to focus more on the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. In her first post-election interview, Byrne told the Beyond a Ballot podcast (new window) she's currently providing Poilievre and the caucus with some advice on policy files. I speak to people on a daily basis and I'm going to continue to do that, but I've stepped back from the day-to-day and I'm not going to run the next campaign, she said on the podcast released Friday. In the weeks after the spring vote, pressure mounted on Poilievre (new window) to fire Byrne, who critics hold responsible for the Conservatives squandering a 25-point lead in an election that also saw the party's leader lose his Ottawa-area seat. I can understand why people feel let down ... victory was close. People could taste it and people are desperate for change, she said. Poilievre lost his seat after serving as an MP for the Carleton riding for more than 20 years when Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy defeated him by a margin of 4,500 votes. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's former campaign manager Kory Teneycke was an outspoken critic of the federal Conservative campaign during the 2025 election, suggesting it was headed for disaster and urgently needed to pivot its message and strategy. Teneycke told CBC News (new window) in March that Poilievre and his team were running their campaign as if the main opponent was still former prime minister Justin Trudeau and that the cost of living, inflation and the housing crisis were the issues that mattered most to Canadians, when in fact voters were clearly indicating Trump had become top of mind. Complicating matters, Teneycke said, was that Poilievre sounded too Trumpy. What do you say about Trump? Byrne asks Byrne told Beyond a Ballot the decision not to pivot away from affordability issues and toward Trump was taken consciously and she still stands by it. The Liberals wanted to talk about Trump. I think they were trying to bait us into talking about Trump, and from a practical point of view, I don't know what we would have said every day. What do you say? Byrne said that aside from not knowing what to say about the U.S. president, switching the campaign to focus on Trump would have turned off the new voters that were flocking to the party over their affordability message. If we had gone down that road ... we would not have come up with the [143] seats that we got, she said. Byrne says the affordability message resonated with newer voters to the party who were seized by the cost of living crisis and didn't have the luxury of worrying about Trump. For that reason, she said, the party's strategy is unlikely to change. The coalition that we have now is going to be the coalition that at least is going to be the anchor for us going forward, she said. 'The Pierre story is not finished' As for Poilievre losing his own riding, Byrne said the reason for that was that the riding had changed a lot in the last 20 years, and now includes more members of the public service. Byrne said that in recent years there has been massive hiring in the public service and that when Poilievre was honest ... that there were going to have to be cuts made to the public service, [it] upset certain voters. I do wish that we had seen what was happening in Pierre's riding sooner than what we did, but that being said, I'm not sure what we could have done about it at the time, she said. It would have been so late that moving seats would have been strange and there were not a lot of seats left, she added. Poilievre is currently running in a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, which he is expected to take easily in the Aug. 18 vote. The party is set to review Poilievre's leadership at the Conservative convention in January, where Byrne says she expects members to rally to the leader and back him into the next election. I 100 per cent believe that he is the right leader for the party. There is not a doubt in my mind at all, she said. It is unfortunately going to be a two-step process instead of a one-step process, she said. This Pierre story is not finished. Peter Zimonjic (new window) · CBC News · Senior writer Peter Zimonjic is a senior writer for CBC News who reports for digital, radio and television. He has worked as a reporter and columnist in London, England, for the Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail, and in Canada for the Ottawa Citizen, Torstar and Sun Media. He is the author of Into The Darkness: An Account of 7/7, published by Vintage.
Global News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Global News
In rare interview, Poilievre's campaign chief says she regrets riding loss
The Conservative Party's 2025 federal campaign chief Jenni Byrne says not realizing sooner that leader Pierre Poilievre was in trouble in his riding remains one of her main regrets from the election. 'I do wish that we had seen what was happening in Pierre's riding sooner than what we did,' Byrne said in an interview on the 'Beyond a Ballot' podcast this week. In the interview, Byrne's first since the April election, she spoke about the campaign and what's next for her following her time as one of Poilievre's top advisers. The longtime political strategist, who also served as an adviser to former prime minister Stephen Harper during his years in government, told the podcast that despite her regret about not recognizing trouble in Poilievre's riding, she isn't sure they could have done much at the time. Story continues below advertisement 'It would've been late, so late that moving seats would have been strange, and there were not a lot of seats left,' she said. In the last days of the federal campaign, there was growing speculation that Poilievre was in danger of losing his longtime Ottawa-area riding of Carleton — a result that came to fruition on election night when Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy unseated the seven-term MP. Byrne said during the podcast that Poilievre previously addressed this following his loss, but said the seat had changed 'a lot' in the past 20 years. However, she added Poilievre's remarks during the campaign that cuts would be made to the federal public service may have upset voters in his riding, which is rural in some areas while also being home to a growing number of subdivisions in Ottawa's southwestern suburbs. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Poilievre is currently seeking to return to Parliament in the byelection for the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot on Aug. 18. She was also asked about the party losing its fourth straight election, despite most polls in early January showing they had a 20-point lead that rapidly narrowed after former prime minister Justin Trudeau resigned and U.S. President Donald Trump entered office. 0:57 Poilievre calls 'longest ballot' protest in his new riding a 'scam' Pointing to the results the Conservatives got in the popular vote, 41 per cent, Byrne said they stayed about where polls predicted they'd land in terms of percentage, but NDP and Bloc Québécois votes shifted. Story continues below advertisement 'The factor was that there were a certain segment of people that looked at Carney as change, and you had NDP voters, and Bloc voters for that matter, who kind of were concerned about Trump, and they went to Carney,' she said. Byrne defended the campaign's focus on affordability and cost of living even as Trump became a focus of the federal election. Byrne said she had spoken with voters who said the party's focus on affordability and housing appealed to them. 'We didn't get distracted in terms of Trump. Did we talk about Trump, every single day … it just didn't mean that that was going to be the only thing that we talked about,' she said. 'The Liberals wanted to talk about Trump. I think they were trying to bait us into talking about Trump, and from a practical point of view, I don't know what we would have said every day. It would have turned off or at least, not turned off, but demotivated the group of people that ended up coming.' When asked what's next, Byrne confirmed she will stay on as an adviser for the Conservatives and Poilievre, but she won't be leading the national campaign whenever the next federal election is held. 'I've stepped back from the day-to-day and I am not going to run the next campaign,' she said. 'For me, when I run campaigns, it is a full-time job.' Story continues below advertisement 2:13 Poilievre begins political comeback attempt on sidelines of Parliament She said she wants to give her full time to her consulting business. Byrne also criticized Carney, saying there's been 'no change.' 'Carney speaks a big game, but he's not accomplished anything,' she said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Carney speaks a big game, but he's not accomplished anything," she said. 'Nothing's changed on immigration, nothing has changed on crime, and also he seems to be stringing the premiers and everyone along in terms of the 20 nation-building projects. It looks like we're nowhere closer to getting those.' It's why, she added, she believes Poilievre remains the right leader for the Conservatives and that party members just need to be patient for him to become prime minister. 'It is unfortunately going to be a two-step process as opposed to a one-step process,' she said. Story continues below advertisement — With files from Global News' Alex Boutilier
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Conservative campaign manager Jenni Byrne says she won't run the next campaign
Published Aug 08, 2025 • 1 minute read Conservative Party campaign manager Jenni Byrne, right, is seen at a Harper campaign stop in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — The Conservative party will have a new campaign manager in the next federal election, now that Jenni Byrne says she's stepping back from the role she held this spring. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Byrne, who remains a key adviser to party leader Pierre Poilievre, also ran campaigns for former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2011 and 2015. She has been the target of criticism since April 28, with some Conservatives calling for her to be fired after the party's fourth straight election loss to the Liberals. Byrne recently gave a wide-ranging interview to a podcast called Beyond a Ballot, which says its mission is to get more women interested in politics. She says the decision not to focus the Conservative campaign on U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs was the right one. Byrne says the Liberals won because Prime Minister Mark Carney 'lied' about his ability to negotiate with Trump, while the Conservatives maintained the voter base that polls showed they had in January. Toronto Blue Jays Editorials Tennis Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA
National Observer
2 days ago
- Business
- National Observer
Conservative campaign manager Jenni Byrne says she won't run the next campaign
The Conservative party will have a new campaign manager in the next federal election, now that Jenni Byrne says she's stepping back from the role she held this spring. Byrne, who remains a key adviser to party leader Pierre Poilievre, also ran campaigns for former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2011 and 2015. She has been the target of criticism since April 28, with some Conservatives calling for her to be fired after the party's fourth straight election loss to the Liberals. Byrne recently gave a wide-ranging interview to a podcast called Beyond a Ballot, which says its mission is to get more women interested in politics. She says the decision not to focus the Conservative campaign on U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs was the right one. Byrne says the Liberals won because Prime Minister Mark Carney "lied" about his ability to negotiate with Trump, while the Conservatives maintained the voter base that polls showed they had in January.
