Jenni Byrne, campaign manager for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, announced she will not lead the party's campaign in the next federal election. In her first interview since the recent election, Byrne defended her decision not to shift the campaign's focus to the perceived threat of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a podcast interview, Byrne stated, "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." This statement comes amid growing pressure on Poilievre to dismiss her following the party's disappointing performance in the election, where they lost a significant lead and Poilievre himself lost his Ottawa-area seat.

Critics have blamed Byrne for the Conservatives' failure to capitalize on a 25-point lead during the campaign. Byrne acknowledged the disappointment among supporters, saying, "I can understand why people feel let down ... victory was close. People could taste it and people are desperate for change."

After the election, Kory Teneycke, a former campaign manager for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, criticized the Conservative campaign strategy. He argued that Poilievre's team was still treating former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the main opponent, while voters were increasingly concerned about issues like the cost of living and inflation. Teneycke suggested that the campaign needed to pivot its message to address these pressing concerns.

Byrne, however, maintained that the decision to focus on affordability rather than Trump was intentional. She explained, "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?"

She added that shifting the campaign's focus to Trump could have alienated new voters attracted by the party's 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 emphasized that the affordability message resonated with voters who were primarily concerned about the cost of living crisis.

Regarding Poilievre's loss in his riding, Byrne noted that demographic changes over the past two decades, including an increase in public service employees, contributed to the defeat. She remarked, "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."

Poilievre is currently campaigning in a by-election in Alberta's Battle River-Crowfoot, where he is expected to perform well. The Conservative Party will review Poilievre's leadership at its convention in January, and Byrne expressed confidence in his leadership, stating, "I 100 percent believe that he is the right leader for the party. There is not a doubt in my mind at all." She concluded, "This Pierre story is not finished."