Who is Jordan Bardella and why is Marine Le Pen not running for the French Legislative Assembly?
Marine Le Pen has announced that the 28-year-old far-right politician will be a candidate for French prime minister.
The French far-right is shaking the French country’s political system. Given the success of the National Rally (RN) in the elections to the European Parliament, Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly and call early elections with a double round (June 30 and 7 of July).
Marine Le Pen, the former president and leader of RN, has confirmed that Jordan Bardella will be the prime minister of France if the extreme right wins the elections, and assured that they are “ready to take over power if the French give us their trust.” Bardella, a 28-year-old politician, has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019, the year in which he was head of the National Rally’s list.
Who is Bardella?
Jordan Bardella was born in 1995 in Drancy, Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris. From an early age he became interested in politics and in 2012 he joined the National Front, currently called National Rally (RN). He began studying geography at university, but soon abandoned the degree to focus on politics.
He quickly gained importance within RN, being regional councilor, spokesperson and vice president of the party, until in 2019, at only 23 years old, he was named head of his party’s list for the European elections held that year. Shortly after, in 2022, he was elected president of RN, and is Marine Le Pen’s right-hand man.
Bardella and RN surpassed Macron and his political formation in the 2024 European elections, achieving 31% of the votes and 30 seats among the 81 French MEPs.
What is Bardella like?
The French politician has exponentially increased his popularity through his social networks. Nicknamed the 'TikTok politician', he has dedicated himself to sharing speeches on the Internet, and has more than one and a half million followers on TikTok and almost 650,000 on Instagram. On some occasions he has been accused of focusing too much on improving his image and being uninvolved in the European Parliament.
Regarding his ideology, Bardella has always adopted an anti-immigration and even Islamophobic stance. He has also advocated reducing climate standards, and has been critical of the functioning of Europe. He himself has wanted to position himself as the “great substitute”, and is the greatest threat to Emmanuel Macron.
Le Pen's role in the elections
Although Marine Le Pen is the leader and main figure of the National Rally, Bardella is the candidate in the snap legislative elections called by Macron. This was announced by Le Pen, who is not running as a candidate because in the event of victory she will assume the position of president of France.
Although it may seem complicated to understand, Le Pen’s plan is simple. She wants to form an executive partnership with Bardella.
She herself explained that if her party wins in the next elections, she would assume the role of president, while Bardella would be prime minister: “For months, Bardella and I have been working as an executive team to fulfill the functions of what the French people have invested in them.”