Former Harper cabinet minister Michelle Rempel tells iPolitics that she’s waiting to see how the field shapes up before making a decision on a possible run for the Conservative leadership.

“There’s still a lot of time left in the race … we’re still five months out I’m still seeing who’s going to get in and make some decisions around that,” she said.

Asked the standard leadership sorting question of whether that means she’s not ruling out a run, Rempel demurred, saying, “Ah, you know, I’m not going to speak about it,” before speaking about how she’s basically not ruling out a run.

“It’s more important for me to see what’s on offer first.”

The latest leadership hopefuls hail from B.C. Former MP Andrew Saxton and Vancouver businessman Rick Peterson added their names to the growing list of contenders on Tuesday.

So far, there are six official candidates whose paperwork has been accepted by the party — Maxime Bernier, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Deepak Obhrai, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost. That list included Tony Clement before he dropped out.

Former MP Chris Alexander and MP Erin O’Toole announced their leadership bids last week and Steven Blaney will announce his leadership bid at a brunch on Sunday. Conservative MP Lisa Raitt dropped her critic role and is considering her options. Toronto consultant Adrienne Snow and former Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux are quietly working on their campaigns. No word yet from brash reality show impresario Kevin O’Leary.

While Rempel has been quiet on the topic since her late-night multi-tweet pondering of the question on Twitter this time last year, she told iPolitics on Wednesday that she’s been pressured to enter a race some strategists say she has a good shot at winning.

Conservative strategist and vice-chair of Summa Strategies Tim Powers described Rempel as having the potential to be a “top tier” candidate, adding she’s “effectively presented herself as a contrast to the prime minister” but also understands the modern political environment.

“She is not afraid to embrace tough challenges the Conservative party has had to deal with,” said Powers, adding that whether it relates to social policy or fiscal policy, “she’s fearless.”

“She’s not afraid to push and although that can get you in trouble I think being fearless now is a useful quality to have during a leadership race.”

Indeed, Rempel was known as one of the Harper government’s most effective defenders in the daily Ottawa television spin wars. A classically trained pianist with a BA in economics from the University of Manitoba, Rempel has a reputation on the Hill for being tough but accessible, with a penchant for late-night tweets that are, if not Trump-esque, occasionally eyebrow-raising.

Rempel wouldn’t elaborate on who is pressuring her to run, but said people from across the country have told her she has interesting ideas.

“Our membership wants to see a race of ideas, a race based on a vision for the country, not just a popularity contest or who’s got the most caucus support,” she said.

“For me that’s really what’s important in this race from the bottom of my heart. I want the next leader of our party to be somebody who reflects a vision for Canada that, regardless of political stripe, Canadians across the country can get excited about and get behind. Otherwise, why are we here?”

Rempel said she hasn’t given any serious thought to her own prospects because it’s still early days.

“We haven’t had a debate yet, we haven’t really seen, outside a couple of candidates, any sort of strong ideas and for me my decision on either who I’m going to support or what I’m going to do personally is … it’s more important for me to see what’s on offer first.”

Tory strategist and partner at Crestview Strategy Chad Rogers called Rempel a personal friend and “an exceptional politician.”

“She’s carved out a national voice for herself. She’s not your father’s Oldsmobile in terms of conservatism, she is young but it’s not just age, she’s intellectually adventurous, she’s trying to target policy areas for the party. I think any race would be lucky to have a serious candidate like Michelle,” said Rogers.

She’s also a western member and bilingual, he said.

Rempel, like Conservative candidate Andrew Scheer, could be a “generational change” candidate, Powers suggested. Rempel could make the argument that she’s not looking for a one-term mandate, but is someone who could rebuild the party over the next decade.