The current leader of the French far right
The current leader of the French far right, Jordan Bardella, has had a rise to the top of politics in France, but who is he?
The leader of the French far right has had such a swift ride, he is still being asked about the teenage years he spent playing “Call of Duty”.
This Sunday, at just 28, he could become France’s prime minister and the youngest in Europe in over 200 years.
The current leader of the French far right, Bardella is the new face of an old party that is struggling to renew itself.
Personally chosen as leader by the doyenne of the National Party (RN), Marine Le Pen, in an attempt to separate the far-right party from its racist and anti-Semitic roots, Bardella has brought it closer than ever to the gates of power.
It is still unclear whether the RN will succeed in forming a government and whether Bardella will become prime minister after the second round this July 7.
Despite the surge in support for the RN, France’s left and centrist parties have called on their supporters to vote tactically to prevent the far-right from winning an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.
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This week, more than 200 parliamentary candidates from Macron’s alliance and the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) resigned in an attempt to avoid splitting the vote in the runoff.
It seems imminent that France, and the rest of Europe, must take into consideration the possibility of a far right French government, headed by a leader who is popular but untested for office.
Who is Bardella and what could his party do in power? The current leader of the French far right
The current leader of the French ultra-right Bardella, the only son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Seine-Saint-Denis, a working-class suburb of Paris.
He joined the RN at 16 and then began studying geography at the prestigious Sorbonne University, before dropping out to rise through the party ranks.
After becoming the party’s spokesperson, he was the RN’s leading candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections at the age of just 23.
In 2022, after Le Pen narrowly lost the presidential election to Macron, he succeeded her as party leader, overtaking the party’s then long-time vice president and Le Pen’s former partner, Louis Aliot.
Freed from the day-to-day management of the party but almost certain to run for president again in 2027, Le Pen has been able to refresh the RN’s image and rid it of its reputation.
Le Pen began a years-long job of detoxifying the RN by expelling her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted Holocaust denier and its founder, from the party and then changing its name.
In just two years, Bardella has helped give the RN an acceptable image.
If the RN does not reach the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority, Bardella could choose not to govern.
