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The new Tory party chairman has said he doesn't know how many people are members of his party.

Brandon Lewis, who was appointed to the role in the last week's reshuffle, was quizzed on the numbers by the BBC's Andrew Marr.

Mr Lewis said he didn't know the answer saying: "We've got a party that is devolved, we have a localised party membership is done locally.

"One of the reforms that I do want to take forward I do want to bring the numbers and the data of our membership into a central base so in the future yes I will be able to give you an idea of our numbers."

Mr Marr asked: "Isn't it simply a matter of addition, you've got members in Kent, members in

Lewis said: "We can all play numbers games if you look at the way the Labour party look at their numbers and the things they include."

He repeated: "I don't want to play a numbers game."

(Image: AFP)

The Tory party has a record of being secretive of its membership figures but Mr Lewis suggested it was difficult to work out the true numbers.

Former Tory chairman Grant Shapps has called for the party to reveal the numbers saying that "transparency" was important even if the figures are "embarrassing".

Estimates suggest the Conservative party has 100,000 or fewer members dwarfed by Labour's 552,000 which is now the biggest party in Western Europe.

(Image: AFP)

The Liberal Democrats , despite having just 12 MPs in the House of Commons, have more than 100,000 members.

While the SNP , with an estimated 118,000 members, have slipped back slightly from their post-independence referendum peak.

The Labour Party has seen its membership soar in recent years after thousands joined or re-joined the party to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

(Image: Daily Mirror) (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Labour has now set a target of a million members hoping the mass membership will give the an edge at the next election.

Labour in the mid-1990s, under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, also set a target of a million but peaked at 405,000 in 1997.

The Tories last published membership figures in 2013, when it had 149,800 members but has refused to publish an update since then.

Today Brandon Lewis said he hoped to be able to report the true figure once he had reformed the way the Conservatives record the figures.