Party faithful are set to gather in Ottawa on Saturday to hear from the next Conservative leader — the party’s fourth in seven years. Heading into the leadership contest, Pierre Poilievre was seen as the front-runner.

		Read more: Poilievre is popular among Conservative voters, but not all Canadians feel the same way, poll finds 		
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			It’s popular among Conservative voters, but not all Canadians feel the same way: poll

During the seven-month campaign, Poilievre appears to have cemented that position. “Rather than a battle for the soul of the party, I think (the contest) was just a reaffirmation of the decision that had been made in 2002 and 2003 … (that) the way to beat the Liberal Party would be a right that was a little bit more emphatically,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. Story continues below ad “Basically, what’s happening in Canadian politics is that we’ve created a more articulate left and a more articulate right.” The Ipsos poll for Global News shows that, among Conservative voters, Poilievre’s support rose from 50 percent in April to 57 percent in September. While Jean Charest appeared to be closing the gap on Pierre Poilievre in July, Poilievre appears to have consolidated his lead in the polls. Global News Jean Charest, the former Quebec premier and leader of the Progressive Conservatives who is considered Poilievre’s main challenger in the contest, had just 27 percent support among Conservative voters in April. While the Ipsos poll showed Charest closing the gap on Poilievre in July, with 45 percent support, the September poll put him at 38 percent. Charest maintains he still sees a path to victory, and it’s important to note that “Conservative voters” are not necessarily card-carrying members of the party who can vote for the leadership. Trending Stories

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But Bricker said his poll suggests a “band-hopping” measure that moves the Conservatives into the Pulyev camp. “We have seen a significant movement among Tory partisans towards Poilievre. So they kind of prepare for the inevitable,” Bricker said. “But among Canadians overall … just over 40 per cent had no impression of Poilievre. “This was really a family battle. The Canadian electorate has not paid attention.” The 2022 race lacked much of the drama and big moments of 2017’s leadership – like when pioneer and TV personality Kevin O’Leary surprisingly pulled out of the race or Andrew Scheer’s climb through a packed field to upset the Maxime Bernier on the final ballot. It also lacked some of the interesting dynamics of the 2020 race, like Erin O’Toole’s transformation into a red-meat conservative, Peter MacKay’s campaign stumbles, or Leslyn Lewis’ surprisingly strong bid.

		Read more: O’Toole calls for ‘balance’ as Tory MPs plunge party into leadership race

The biggest drama came in July, when the party expelled former Brampton MP and mayor Patrick Brown for alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act. But in a June interview with Global News, Brown had already openly considered a return to city politics “if Pierre was going to win.” Story continues below ad Whoever the next leader is, he will inherit a party with 678,702 paying members – a number unprecedented in modern Canadian politics – and an extensive database of grassroots members to campaign in the next federal election. While party membership numbers usually drop slightly after a leadership race, the party said Thursday it had received 437,854 total ballots by Monday’s deadline. This suggests a decent level of engagement from members – including the more than 300,000 Poilievre campaigns claim to have signed up. 2:31 The race for the leadership of the Federal Conservatives enters the final stretch The race for the leadership of the Federal Conservatives One question for the incoming leader is who exactly makes up the party’s new and expanded base – and what it will take to keep them all motivated, even if the preferred candidate does not take the helm. Another question is how much time the new leader will have before the Liberals open another general election in the country. While the NDP’s deal to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals runs until 2025, the Conservatives have no guarantee that this minority Parliament will last that long. Story continues below ad But those are questions for Sunday morning. The new captain is scheduled to be named Saturday afternoon between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at an event at the Shaw Center in Ottawa. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.