Conservative elder stateswoman Marjory LeBreton:
It's been 45 years since LeBreton was hired on by the venerable Flora MacDonald as a secretary at the federal party headquarters in Ottawa. Soon after, she found herself filing messages to John Diefenbaker's June 1962 election campaign team. Virtually unbeknownst to most Canadians, she's had a hand in every federal Conservative campaign since before the Cuban missile crisis.
"This is probably unique in a modern political culture: she has been a strongly supportive presence for every single Conservative leader since (Diefenbaker)," former prime minister Brian Mulroney said in an interview. "I don't think that's happened before."
Mulroney credits LeBreton with "immense good judgment," long corporate memory and a well-known leader loyalty that has kept her above the fratricidal conflicts that have plagued Conservatives.
"Harper's never had a better supporter, nor will he, than Marj. That's for sure," said Mulroney.
That is political longevity.
