Le Pen's 'general' tipped to take over French far-right party, eyes EU polls
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Loading... - Johann Bauer
- 03 Nov 2022
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"Jordan Bardella is going to take a more important role in the life of the party and French politics," political analyst Bruno Cautres said. "If Marine Le Pen does not win (the presidency) in 2027, he will become her successor in 2032, when he will only be 37." 'A NEW CHAPTER' Bardella, always smartly turned out in suit and tie, has embraced Le Pen's strategy of seeking to convince voters that the party founded by her father Jean-Marie, who was convicted several times for incitement to racial hatred, has moved towards the conservative mainstream and is now fit to govern.
Marine Le Pen still has her eyes on winning France's presidency, but a 27-year old loyalist from a tough working class neighbourhood is their far-right party's rising star and he has big ambitions that also extend to the European stage.
Jordan Bardella is tipped to take over the chairmanship of Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) - the former National Front - when it holds its convention on Saturday and plans to continue her efforts to attract voters beyond the party's far-right core. Le Pen, who has diluted some of the party's anti-immigrant, eurosceptic policies, stepped down from its leadership structure in 2021 ahead of her unsuccessful bid for the presidency in this year's election, which was won by incumbent Emmanuel Macron
Bardella took over as acting chairman of their party, though he says Le Pen still runs the show. "She's the political leader and I'm her army general," Bardella told Reuters in an interview. "I'm in charge of the European area, while she's in charge nationally."
Bardella, who is a member of the European Parliament, said the fact that somebody not from Le Pen's family could chair the RN represented a "small cultural revolution". His rival in Saturday's contest is Louis Aliot, Le Pen's former partner. A clean-cut boxing enthusiast, Bardella has become one of Le Pen's most recognised lieutenants in French media. His quick wit and brutal soundbites have made him a formidable opponent for Macron's ministers and lawmakers on TV shows. Read More...
