Conservative Party: Poilievre Survives Leadership Review with 87.4%

CALGARY, AB — Pierre Poilievre survived his first real test since losing the 2025 federal election, pulling 87.4% approval in a mandatory leadership review at the Conservative Party's national convention today. The vote—2,500 delegates, secret ballots, Big Four accountants counting—landed him squarely ahead of Stephen Harper's 84% mark from the last time the party did this drill in 2005.

The math matters because it had to happen. Party rules force a leadership review after an election loss, and Poilievre handed the keys to Mark Carney's Liberals last April when they scraped together a minority government. Two MPs—Chris d'Entremont and Michael Ma—walked across the aisle to the Liberals in the months after, citing frustrations with Poilievre's style. Whispers inside the caucus suggested more would surface if the review numbers tanked.

The Friction Point

The real tension wasn't whether Poilievre would survive—it was whether the margin would bleed enough to embolden the old guard. Veteran members had quietly circulated concerns about his campaign management and tone during the 2025 race. The 87.4% approval puts that chatter to bed, at least for now. It's not unanimous love, but it's enough runway to keep the party machinery locked on Poilievre through the next election cycle.

The timing adds weight: this convention marked the first leadership review in two decades for the Conservatives. The party hasn't had to publicly grade a leader since Harper's post-2004 test. Poilievre, who won a by-election in Battle River—Crowfoot last August to return to Parliament after the spring loss, framed the review as a reset button.

The Money & The Machine

Poilievre's camp can point to fundraising as proof the base still backs him. The party logged its best fundraising years in 2023, 2024, and 2025—numbers officials tied directly to his leadership. That financial engine keeps the war chest stocked, and the delegates know it. Losing a leader who moves money is a risk few party operators want to take heading into a minority government landscape where snap elections are always one confidence vote away.

The convention itself, stretched across three days at Calgary's BMO Centre, carried the usual logistical weight—delegate travel, hotel blocks, ballot security. No public price tag was released for the review mechanics, but national conventions run into significant expense territory when you're coordinating thousands of members and independent auditors to count votes.

The Separatist Sideshow

Outside the BMO Centre, thousands gathered for a "Stay Free Alberta" rally—a separatist movement flexing its numbers while federal Conservatives debated their own leadership inside. The proximity wasn't accidental. Alberta separatism has simmered in conservative circles for years, and the rally's timing during the federal convention underscored the fracture lines between provincial and federal conservative identities. Premier Danielle Smith, a vocal defender of Alberta autonomy, operates in a political space where those fault lines matter daily.

What's Next

Poilievre walks out of Calgary with his leadership intact and a number higher than Harper's benchmark. The next concrete test is how he manages a Liberal minority government that could collapse on a confidence vote at any time. Carney's grip on power is thin, and Poilievre's job is to position the Conservatives as the alternative when Canadians head back to the polls. The 87.4% gives him the mandate to do that without looking over his shoulder at internal challengers. For now.