Liberals’ national campaign director resigns amid growing election uncertainty

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Jeremy Broadhurst, a prominent senior Liberal for the past two decades, has quit his post as campaign director for the federal Liberals, announcing his exit one day after the NDP opened up the possibility of an early election by ending its co-operative agreement with the Liberal government.

Mr. Broadhurst, also the Liberal campaign director during the 2019 election, was a senior adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before leaving the role last year. He has also served as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

His departure is a blow for the Liberals less than two weeks before Parliament is set to resume. A federal election is scheduled for the fall of 2025, but the Liberal minority government has lost the NDP’s automatic support on confidence votes, which could threaten its survival.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, at a press conference Thursday, agreed that an early federal election is more likely since he pulled his party out of its supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.

“We are ready to fight an election whenever it happens,” he said.

Mr. Singh declared that he, not Mr. Trudeau, is best-positioned to take on the Conservatives and their leader, Pierre Poilievre. He accused the Liberals of being too weak and selfish to stop the Conservatives, who hold a double-digit lead in polls.

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Hours after Mr. Singh’s press conference, Mr. Broadhurst posted a statement on social media, saying Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals need someone who can bring more energy and devotion to the job of national campaign director than he can at this point in his life because of family commitments. He did not reference Mr. Singh’s announcement.

Mr. Broadhurst wrote that he has been thinking about the physical, mental and emotional efforts required during his years in politics, including in five national campaigns, and was mindful of the pressures placed on his wife and children.

“I have come to the conclusion that I cannot ask them to sacrifice another year,” he wrote. “Therefore, with regret, I have decided to step down from the position of National Campaign Director.”

Neither the federal Liberal Party nor the Prime Minister’s Office responded to e-mailed questions about the consequences of Mr. Broadhurst’s departure.

Greg MacEachern, a Liberal strategist and principal and founder of KAN Strategies, said with the Liberals set to meet in Nanaimo, B.C. next week for a caucus retreat, Mr. Broadhurst’s departure may satisfy the calls from MPs for change after the party’s unexpected by-election loss in Toronto in June.

“The Liberals are going into a retreat and the Prime Minister and his staff are going to have to answer questions about what they’ve done over the summer since the loss of the St. Paul’s by-election. And a lot of caucus members wanted to see some sort of change, because change is often the way people realize that they’ve been heard,” he said.

“So whether the timing is coincidental or not, this may go somewhat toward those caucus members looking for change.”

At his Thursday press conference, Mr. Singh said the NDP will decide on non-confidence motions in Parliament on a case-by-case basis. “We’ll have to look at each vote on its merits and decide what’s in the interests of Canadians.”

Mr. Singh said his decision to end the party’s support for the Liberals was not the result of a recent challenge by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to help precipitate an election based on opposition to federal carbon-pricing policy.

“I will never, ever take advice from Pierre Poilievre,” Mr. Singh said.

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He noted that his video announcing his decision to end the agreement, posted Wednesday, was filmed long before Mr. Poilievre’s challenge.

Mr. Singh said he is ready for a fight against what he called the “callous agenda” of the federal Conservatives under Mr. Poilievre and that he would be running to become prime minister.

He denounced critics of his bid for government. “We will not let them tell us it can’t be done,” he said.

Jonathan Malloy, a political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said the NDP’s decision to pull out of its agreement means the Liberals will have a minority government that is more typical, similar to the Stephen Harper government in the early 2000s.

The Liberals will have to make deals with different parties – likely the NDP and Bloc Québécois – on individual issues to push through its agenda, he said.

“But whether or not Mr. Trudeau can make it to next October – I don’t know,” Prof. Malloy said.

Christine Normandin, deputy leader of the Bloc, said in an interview that the NDP announcement gives the Bloc an opportunity to negotiate with the government on issues of interest, such as more power for Quebec over immigration. The Bloc currently has more seats in the Commons than the New Democrats – 32 compared with 24 for the NDP.

Ms. Normandin was dismissive of calls from Mr. Poilievre to bring down the Liberal government, saying the official Opposition Leader was simply looking for power at the expense of the Bloc’s successes in securing gains for Quebeckers.

“In Quebec, people are fed up with Trudeau, yes. But they don’t want Pierre Poilievre either,” she said. “It’s not our role to put him in power.”

She said it now appears the government will not last until next fall but added that the Bloc will focus on what it can accomplish ahead of that campaign.

“We’re ready for an election anytime,” she said.