Following the political upheaval caused by Marine Le Pen's conviction, her protégé Jordan Bardella now finds himself at the forefront of the National Rally (RN) drive towards the 2027 presidential elections.
Jordan Bardella owes everything to Marine Le Pen, and he makes no secret of it. In 2022, when he took over the RN, the newly appointed president expressed pride in working “with her,” but “above all, for her.” During his New Year’s address to the press in January of this year – when polls had already put him first among RN members – Bardella again attributed his “popularity” to his mentor.
Until a few days ago, everything seemed to be going according to plan: Bardella would become prime minister and Marine Le Pen would succeed Emmanuel Macron after the RN’s presumed victory in the 2027 presidential race. But when the court sentenced her to a five-year ban with immediate effect, the French justice system thrust Bardella into the spotlight and triggered an unprecedented shake-up of the far right.
Although Marine Le Pen still hopes to follow the “narrow path” of appealing against the March 31 ruling, she has no control over the court deadlines. For the first time since 1981, the RN could go to the presidential election without Le Pen as its candidate. And for now, no one looks better positioned than the 29-year-old from the working-class department of Seine-Saint-Denis, even if the carefully constructed “guy from the hood” image has been largely shattered.
“Empty Shell”
Bardella started from scratch – “an empty shell,” “inflexible,” someone who “doesn’t read the press or follow the news,” as his former communications coach Pascal Humeau described him in a book by journalist Tristan Berthelout. But the young man is a quick learner, and he has an important quality for the “normalization” strategy pursued by Marine Le Pen after her break with her father, Jean-Marie. “He doesn’t understand political details, but he has also never made any disqualifying public mistakes,” Berthelout notes.
Leading the RN lists in the 2019 and 2024 European elections, Bardella has still struggled in debates with seasoned orators – he was soundly defeated in a televised duel with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal last May. However, he enjoys considerable popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok, which he wisely adopted early on, and he resonates more with younger voters than Marine Le Pen.
Bardella is rarely seen in the European Parliament in Strasbourg – “a complete unknown,” Renew MEP Nathalie Loiseau quipped in an interview with Euractiv – but he became president of the Patriots of Europe group last July and has built a strong network across the continent. “Jordan Bardella has already shown that, in addition to his youth, he has the skills and leadership qualities needed to tackle any political challenge,” the far-right Spanish MEP from Vox told Euractiv. “Bardella is determined to lead the French people’s response,” added Jorge Buxade.
The Future of the Far Right?
Bardella joined the RN at the early age of just 17, quickly abandoning his geography studies to devote himself full-time to politics. He was a regular at La Cave Saint-Germain, a bar on Paris's Rue des Canettes, a well-known meeting place for young activists from various strands of the French far right.
Over the years, regulars included Sarah Knafo, now an MEP and member of the far-right group Europe of Sovereign Nations; pro-Russian commentator Pierre Gentillet, now a pundit on the far-right channel CNews; and Alexandre Loubet, now an MEP. It was during these years that Bardella formed the inner circle that now surrounds him at RN, including MEP Pierre-Romain Thionnet.
He, at least on paper, shows significant political differences from his mentor. He publicly supports Ukraine in its war against Russia, perhaps to woo French public opinion, which remains largely sympathetic to Kyiv.
While Marine Le Pen embodies the “social” side of the French far right, Bardella is pushing for the creation of a “Ministry of Public Administration Efficiency” modeled on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary advisory group headed by a billionaire who was given sweeping powers by the Trump administration to cut civil service numbers and spending.
After disappointing legislative elections last summer, where the RN suffered a setback due to racist remarks by some of its candidates, Bardella was expected to initiate a major overhaul of the party. But he has largely retained the RN’s centralized, hierarchical structure. “Bardella’s leadership is less about collective empowerment and more about personal attention,” Le Monde noted.
This strategy could prove risky, as various right-wing figures try to take advantage of the RN’s legal troubles in the coming months. Without Marine Le Pen’s protective umbrella, does Bardella have the political heft to prevent factional fighting within the party? Can he fend off competition from right-wing heavyweights such as Interior Minister Bruno Retaillo, Le Pen’s niece Marion Maréchal, or even Sarah Knafo?
Whatever Marine Le Pen’s political future, the RN will bear the indelible stain of her conviction on March 31, undermining its long history of political integrity. In the 1990s, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front brandished the slogan: “Clean hands, head held high.” Fortunately for Bardella, that motto has long been forgotten.
Alice Burgoend contributed to this report.
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