It wasn’t long after 10.30am when Cindy Harding decided things needed to get moving.

The senior Globalheart figure and Moore women’s committee vice-president had led a pilgrimage of churchgoers to the committee’s annual meeting where they formed an 80-strong voting bloc.

Their weight of numbers, much more than in previous years, was a handful for the ladies in charge of registration, who did well to get everyone signed in by 10.36am.

Not soon enough for some. Mrs Harding let out a loud, slow clap which was mimicked and intensified until enthusiastic applause rang throughout North Beach’s Charles Riley clubrooms.

Welcome to the Moore division of the Liberal Party, where the pentecostal Globalheart Church has the numbers and is not afraid to show it. Lay party politics is governed by the iron law of arithmetic, where one man’s branch-stacking is another man’s recruitment drive and accusations of dirty tricks are often just sour grapes, though seldom does it witness anything as brazen as bussing in delegates from a church.

Globalheart, through its political and business arm Kingdom First, exploits its numbers within the rules of the party.

In an age when loyalty to brands, clubs, products and political parties is fleeting, religion is an effective way of mobilising grassroots delegates to the point Globalheart owns Perth’s northern beaches.

Environment Minister and Ocean Reef MP Albert Jacob is a member, as is Joondalup MP Jan Norberger, a parliamentary secretary in the Barnett Government.

The Church is the support base of Moore MHR Ian Goodenough, who is not a member but attends certain events.

Fascinatingly, the only credible Liberal challenger to Globalheart also draws on religious support — Jewish businessman Simon Ehrenfeld, a Young Liberals president in the 1990s who returned to the party in recent years after carving out a corporate career.

As Hillarys branch president, Mr Ehrenfeld set his sights on replacing 24-year incumbent Rob Johnson when it became clear the party would not re-endorse the vocal Barnett Government critic.

But Mr Ehrenfeld’s local endorsement was controversially overturned by State Council in May in favour of MLC Peter Katsambanis, who is aligned to powerbroker and Education Minister Peter Collier and supported by Mr Goodenough.

Mr Johnson raged against the result in Parliament, labelling Globalheart a “religious cult” and claiming Mr Ehrenfeld had been targeted for being Jewish. It came to a head at the December 18 Moore women’s committee AGM, where Mr Ehrenfeld’s ally Suzanne Migdale was rolled as president by Globalheart-backed 26-year-old Joondalup City councillor Christine Hamilton-Prime.

Mr Jacob’s mother Julia is a former committee treasurer and sister-in-law Taya was elected to the executive, and Mrs Harding became vice-president.

“When Ehrenfeld saw we had the numbers he didn’t contest any of the positions,” Mr Goodenough told The West Australian.

Mr Goodenough said just under half the delegates at the meeting were members of Globalheart, but he played down its involvement.

“It’s not the Church itself. It’s people who attend the Church,” he said. “They are members of the community, they are well connected to Jan, Albert and myself.”

Mr Ehrenfeld, who was also at the meeting, said not all his supporters were Jewish and included a “coalition of people, non aligned but bound by opposition to this one group (Globalheart)”.

“I don’t use the word cult. That’s too strong. I say sect,” he said.

“Why it’s a threat to democracy is they turn up at elections and you can have better CVs, better candidates but it doesn’t matter. You just hit a wall.”

Mrs Harding declined to be interviewed.