Portage-Lisgar Conservative MP Candice Bergen is considering a Tory leadership bid.

Bergen says many of her constituents are asking her to run and she has spent a considerable amount of time thinking about it.

"I've had the time over the summer to spend with family, friends and my local conservative board that advises me, so at this point, I'm not closing any doors in terms of putting my name forward for leadership."

The former cabinet minister says there are a number of things that she needs to weigh before throwing her hat in the ring.

"I know there are some things that I would need to do to be a part of this race. There's the term 'counting the cost', and there is definitely a cost in terms of time and energy and things like that, so I'll be looking at the different benchmarks that I need to achieve in order to make that decision."

Bergen got a taste of what it's like to run for the party's leadership when she announced her candidacy for the interim leadership job last fall, losing out to Rona Ambrose.

"The interim leadership race was a little bit different than what the general leadership race will be like, but it was certainly good experience for me. It helped me solidify relationships that I had built and continue to build with my caucus members and it has also helped me in working together with our current leader Rona Ambrose in my portfolio as critic for natural resources."

So far, Quebec MP Maxime Bernier and Ontario MPs Kelly Leitch, Michael Chong and Tony Clement have officially filed their leadership papers.

Many Conservatives are waiting on former cabinet minister Peter MacKay to make his decision on whether to run, which is expected soon.

Conservative party delegates will select a new leader at their convention on May 27, 2017.