Jenni Byrne

Jenni Byrne
Co-Deputy Chief of Staff, Prime Minister's Office
In office August 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Ray Novak
Succeeded by	Katie Telford
Director of Political Operations, Conservative Party of Canada
In office 2009 – August 2013
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Doug Finley
Succeeded by	Fred DeLorey
Personal details
Born	1977 (age 39–40) Fenelon Falls, Ontario
Political party	Conservative Party of Canada
Residence	Ottawa, Ontario
Profession	Political Advisor

Jenni Byrne was a political advisor for the Conservative Party of Canada and former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She was once referred to as "the most powerful woman in Ottawa" and "the other woman" behind Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Byrne was born to Jerry and Julie Byrne in 1977 in Fenelon Falls, Ontario. Her mother was a teacher, who died in 2010 at the age of 58. Her father is a carpenter who joined the Reform Party in the 1990s to protest the Liberals' long-gun registry. Her sister, Jerra Kosick (nee Byrne), is also involved with the Conservative Party of Canada, most recently serving as the chief of staff to Minister Michelle Rempel.

Byrne is not married and does not have children.

Byrne was a nursing student at Georgian College, but did not graduate. She later attended the University of Ottawa, where she organized campus clubs for the Reform Party of Canada.

Byrne became involved in politics at age 16, when she joined the Reform Party. Byrne's father, Jerry, had joined the same party to protest the Liberals' long-gun registry. She eventually became the President of the student Reform Party Club at the University of Ottawa. In a media interview, Byrne cited her concerns over debt reduction and tax cuts and how they were more important to her generation than to her parents' generation: "It's great for them to say don’t cut here or there, but they won't be the ones affected by (the debt). They’re in their late 40s and they will probably still benefit from government programs. But Canada looks like a bleak place for me by the time I'm their age."

Byrne has been called Prime Minister Harper's "single best political organizer", a dedicated Harper loyalist who believed in the party during its darkest days. She is also known for her tenacity and possesses "a single-minded unwillingness to put up with people screwing around."

In 2009, she became the Director of Political Operations for the Conservative Party of Canada following the appointment of Doug Finley to the Senate of Canada.

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