EXPLAINER: Who Is Andrew Bevan, the New Liberal Campaign Director?

Then-Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne talks to then-Principal Secretary Andrew Bevan as they wait for the arrival of then-Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard at the Queen's Park Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Nov. 21, 2014. Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Andrew Bevan has been given the complicated task of leading the federal Liberals’ next electoral campaign, as the party faces repeated setbacks and an internal revolt against its leader Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Bevan is replacing Jeremy Broadhurst, who left the role of national campaign director on Sept. 30 after playing a key role in the 2015, 2019, and 2021 elections.

“Andrew Bevan has been a leader in moving forward progressive priorities for more than 30 years,” said Trudeau in announcing the appointment on Oct. 13.

Bevan in recent years has been serving as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and as a senior adviser to Trudeau. He has remained mostly unknown and unrecognizable by the public, in comparison to Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford.

Even though political operatives such as Telford and Bevan work in the background, they can have a sizeable impact on policy. The Liberal Party said in a release that Bevan helped “lead the development and rollout” of Budget 2024.

The budget has a strong focus on increasing the housing supply and launching new assistance programs such as dentalcare and pharmacare, and projects a $40 billion deficit. To boost government revenues, it has also introduced an increase to the capital gains tax, with the government saying the rich need to “pay their fair share.”

“Liberals across the country are ready to fight to defend our progress, drive forward on building a strong economy that works for everyone, and stop Conservative cuts to programs and services that Canadians need right now,“ said Bevan in a news release on Oct. 13. ”We will build a winning campaign that re-elects Justin Trudeau and even more Liberal MPs, so we can keep Canada moving forward.”

Bevan started his political work as a volunteer in 1993 for the late John Godfrey, who became a Liberal MP for the Toronto riding of Don Valley West that year and hired Bevan as his constituency assistant.

Prime Minister Paul Martin gave a cabinet role to Godfrey in 2004, and Bevan went to Ottawa to manage his ministerial office.

The Liberals were defeated not long after in 2006 by the Stephen Harper Conservatives. After Martin subsequently stepped down as Liberal leader, Bevan began working for leadership contender Stéphane Dion.

Dion won the leadership race and became opposition leader to the minority Conservative government, during which time Bevan worked as his chief of staff. Liberals suffered a blow in the 2008 election losing multiple seats, which Dion ran on the implementation of a green transition. Dion stepped down as leader thereafter.

Following work in Ottawa, Bevan advised Kathleen Wynne in her leadership bid for the Ontario Liberal Party and followed her in office as her chief of staff after she won the premiership in 2013. Wynne’s Liberals faced a major defeat in the 2018 election, being relegated to third-party status with seven seats.

The Challenge

Wynne and Trudeau have governed with similar policies, with a strong focus on climate change policies, and increasing social programs and taxes on the wealthiest.

The Conservatives, which have made “axe the [carbon] tax” their main slogan, are currently leading in the polls by a wide margin against the Liberals. The latest Abacus poll gives the Conservatives 43 percent of voting intention compared to 22 percent for the Liberals and 19 percent for the NDP.

The poll numbers saw a concrete manifestation in early summer when Tories won the traditionally Liberal stronghold of Toronto–St. Paul’s in a byelection. The Liberals lost another stronghold in a byelection in September, this time in Montreal and to the Bloc Québécois.

This was shortly after the NDP announced on Sept. 4 that it was breaking its supply-and-confidence agreement with the minority Liberals, which would have kept them in power until June 2025 in exchange for advancing NDP legislative priorities.

The day after, Broadhurst announced he would step down as national campaign director, saying he was no longer the right person for the job.

“Given the stakes involved, the Prime Minister, the Liberal Party of Canada and all its candidates deserve someone who can bring more energy and devotion to the job than I can at this stage of my life,” he said.

The series of setbacks for the Liberals has caused discontent to percolate, with reports of a caucus revolt brewing seeking to oust Trudeau. The party doesn’t have a mechanism to recall a leader during a mandate, but a significant revolt could theoretically put pressure on the leader to step down.

So far, Trudeau has signalled his intention to stay at the helm and carry the party in the next election, which is scheduled for October 2025. His cabinet ministers have also been backing him publicly.

The NDP’s abandoning of the supply-and-confidence agreement opened the door for an early election, but its leader Jagmeet Singh has expressed a clear preference for having the Liberals in power instead of the Conservatives. The Liberals need the support of the NDP or the Bloc Québécois in confidence votes to stay in power.

The Bloc gave an Oct. 29 ultimatum to the Liberals to support two of its private member’s bills in exchange for confidence support, but the Liberals have so far. However, as long as they have the support of the NDP, they can still survive confidence votes.