Pierre Poilievre has hired a long-time staffer and former manager of his local campaigns to run his bid for the Conservative leadership, True North has learned.
A source from Poilievre’s campaign said Jeremy Liedtke, who has worked for Poilievre since 2016, will run the leadership campaign.
The source said Poilievre “trusts (Liedtke) like family,” and stressed the campaign has made a point of getting “fresh faces” involved.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Liedtke graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2019 with a degree in communications and political science.
He managed Ontario PC candidate Goldie Ghamari’s successful campaign in Carleton – the riding Poilievre holds federally – in Ontario’s June 2018 election.
Liedtke has held a number of political positions over the years, including a 2017 internship in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition while Andrew Scheer was Conservative leader, and a 2018 election readiness internship for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Poilievre launched his campaign in a video posted on social media Saturday evening, less than a week after former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole was voted out by his caucus.
“Trudeau thinks he’s your boss,” Poileivre said in his announcement. “He’s got it backwards. You are the boss. That’s why I’m running for prime minister. To put you back in charge of your life. Together, we will make Canadians the freest people on earth.”
Poilievre is the first candidate to officially announce a campaign, but author and political commentator Tasha Kheiriddin has also said she is mulling a bid. Other rumoured candidates include Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, who placed third in the 2020 leadership race, and Brampton mayor Patrick Brown, who led the PC Party of Ontario until stepping down in January 2018.
