Jordan Bardela was chosen today, on Saturday, to succeed Marine Le Pen as leader of the far-right National Assembly party in France. This election marks a symbolic changing of the guard at a pivotal moment for the party’s rise to prominence.
Results from a convention of the anti-immigration party in Paris showed that Bardela, a 27-year-old member of the European Parliament, received 85% of the vote.
Since the party’s founding fifty years ago, he became the first leader to hold the position without the name Luban.
The “National Rally” aims to capitalise on the success seen in this year’s legislative elections as well as the rising popularity of right-wing parties across Europe, particularly in the neighbouring country of Italy.
However, he is dealing with a lot of popular resentment as a result of a racist remark made this week in Parliament by a member of the National Assembly, which cast doubt on years of efforts to improve the party’s reputation.
Marine Le Pen stated that she intended to concentrate on the 89th party representatives in the House of Representatives’ leadership. It is still expected to exercise a great authority in the leadership of the party, and to run again for the presidency in 2027.
Since Luban entered the presidential run last year, Bardela has served as the “National Rally” party’s acting president. Today’s opponent, 53-year-old Luis Alaiot, the mayor of Rabinian and a well-known figure in the “National Assembly,” was defeated by him. 15% of the party’s votes went to Alaiot.
Despite losing to Emmanuel Macron in her third bid for the presidency this year, Luban received the biggest number of votes to date, 44% of the national vote.
Her party gained the most seats in the House of Representatives of Parliament two months later.
In an effort to improve the right-wing party’s reputation and broaden its support, Le Pen made considerable efforts to eradicate the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism that persisted within it. She has significantly distanced her from her father, Jean -Marie Le Pen, who participated in the founding of the party that was previously called the “National Front”.
“I don’t take time off from the National Rally Party. I will be wherever the country needs me,” Le Pen said at the party’s conference today..
A new president of France is chosen by the far-right party
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