Pierre Poilievre’s team claims to have recruited more than 311,000 members by the deadline last Friday – more than the total number of members who voted in the party’s last two leadership elections.

Patrick Brown’s team says it has sold more than 150,000 membership cards, while Jean Charest’s organization says it has recruited “tens of thousands” of new members.

The Canadian press could not verify the numbers released by the campaign teams.

Conservative Party leader Rob Batherson said officials would not comment on specific numbers of leadership candidates. He said it was too early to give even a rough figure and party staff worked long hours to check claims and ensure there were no duplicates.

But not all candidates are bragging publicly, despite a tweet on Saturday from Mr Poilievre’s chief strategist Jenni Byrne urging all other campaigns to release their numbers.

Scott Aitchison declined to speak about his team’s membership sales on Monday as he headed to the House of Commons. Leslyn Lewis and Roman Baber’s teams have not made any public statements.

Former Conservative strategist Tim Powers has heard reports of 600,000 memberships being sold but says he is awaiting official figures.

“I suspect it’s a very good number, I have no doubt about that, which means a much higher number than before,” said Mr. Powers, president of consulting firm Summa, in an interview with Strategies on Monday.

Mr Batherson says the Conservatives will “set a record for the highest-paid political party membership in Canadian history,” dwarfing the record set in 2020, when more than 269,000 people signed up.

“I think the reality is that whoever wins this race for leadership is likely to become prime minister and that’s why there’s so much interest,” Batherson said.

The fact that several hundred thousand people paid $15 each to register sends a message to other parties, particularly the Liberals, Powers said. “It probably wouldn’t happen to the same extent if the country were happy with the state of public affairs. »

The final results will be announced by July 29, after the six candidates have been provided with a preliminary list for review – and possible challenges.

Voting is by postal vote. According to Mr. Powers, approximately 60% of members have participated in recent leadership competitions.