Conservatives have a new campaign manager. How much has really changed?
CBC
After feeling the chance to form government slip through their fingers, many Conservatives are publicly gushing over their party’s choice to lead the next campaign.
But the question still hanging in the air is just how much will actually change.
Has Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre left behind the counsel of trusted adviser and former campaign manager Jenni Byrne? And how much will the leader shift his approach with Steve Outhouse at the helm?
There’s no question the next campaign manager is widely liked. Outhouse's appointment was first reported by the Toronto Sun on Sunday and confirmed by the party to CBC News.
He spent the last two decades in Conservative politics, rising to national attention when he led Leslyn Lewis’s leadership campaign in 2020. Since then he’s led several provincial campaigns, recently coming off a big win for the Progressive Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Conservative MPs familiar with his work, like Ontario’s Andrew Lawton and Alberta’s Shuvaloy Majumdar, were quick to describe Outhouse as “a great guy.”
Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh said he’s heard nothing but good things, suggesting the party needs “somebody like him.”
“We need a retool,” he said.
“It's someone fresh. A lot of the MPs had dealings with him before, positively, and I think the caucus members that I talked to seem pretty excited he’s on board.”
Implicit in the enthusiasm is what some Conservatives are ready to leave behind.
There’s the bitter taste of losing the last election despite having been well ahead in polling toward the end of Justin Trudeau’s tenure. Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke ensured that aftertaste lingered when he repeatedly, publicly accused the campaign of failing to adapt.
But there’s also the questions around Byrne’s style. In the lead up to the vote, Conservative sources told CBC News their campaign was "dysfunctional" with too much centralized power and belittling and aggressive treatment of staff.
"Jenni's in charge and that's all you know," said one campaign worker at the time.
Some Conservatives have questioned whether the backlash against her was sexist. Byrne told the Beyond a Ballot podcast this summer that she found all the attention “strange or perplexing.”
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