Who is Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's 29-year-old successor?

ParisWith the five-year ban on National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, which will rule her out of the 2027 presidential race, all eyes are now on Jordan Bardella. He is Le Pen's designated candidate to take her place. She has been preparing him for this moment for years. The far-right leader was aware that her ban could come, and in the last year she has ceded the spotlight to Bardella, an MEP and current leader of the party in Brussels. He is also the party's president. In France, he is already part of the political and media scene, but outside the country, he is still largely unknown. Who is Le Pen's successor?

He always comes suddenly, with a side parting. His shirt is perfectly ironed. Immaculate. And he struggles to smile. When he does, it's forced. Like the poster for the 2024 European election campaign, where Jordan Bardella, who was the head of the National Rally list, appeared alongside the party's leader, Marine Le Pen. He achieved the best result in the party's history in the European elections, with 31% of the vote.

Bardella, only 29 years old, is a rising figure. Despite his limited university education—he never completed his geography studies—and limited work experience—he has only worked in politics—he has a way with words and political ambitions. Unlike Le Pen, Bardella has managed to win over young people. Much of RN's momentum for these European elections is due precisely to its ability to connect with voters who will be participating in European elections for the first time. Her TikTok account is followed by 1.3 million people. and often posts videos with an informal and relaxed tone, where he can be seen slightly less serious than at rallies or in interviews.

The RN list leader joined the party, when it was still called the National Front, at the age of 16. The son and grandson of Italian immigrants, as a child he lived in an apartment with his mother in Saint-Denis, a municipality in the suburb Paris, and was in social housing. Her parents were separated. "Seeing my mother end the month with 20 euros is one of the reasons I entered politics," she said in an interview. But Bardella attended a private school, and her father was well off.

A meteoric career

His political career has been meteoric. At 20, he was an assistant in the European Parliament and a regional councilor for the party in the Paris region. At 22, Marine Le Pen appointed him party spokesperson, at 23, he became an MEP, and at 26, he was named party president. His career has always been driven by Marine Le Pen. He is her successor and will, in all likelihood, be the candidate in the 2027 presidential elections.

When he was appointed president of the National Regroupment (Régrupament National), Jordan Bardella was the target of internal criticism. Some members of the far-right party loyal to Le Pen believed that Bardella's election would put an end to attempts to "demonize" the party, Le Pen's strategy to soften its positions and reach more voters. Some party veterans even sent a letter to the party's executive committee warning that Bardella's election would mean the "radicalization" of RN and accusing him of more extremist positions than the leader. "Years of demonization about to be pulverized," they warned.

So far, Bardella has remained faithful to the party line. And if he's ever slipped up, the leader has been quick to correct him. "As long as Le Pen is in charge, nothing will change. She will be president [of the Republic], but when she decides," noted a member of the party quoted by the 6Medias news agency. In fact, the French press presents him as her political son. Marine Le Pen is molding him. "Bardella is Le Pen's baby. She has the same ideological line," the same agency quoted Marine Le Pen's special advisor, Philippe Olivier, as saying.

With the disqualification of the party leader, Bardella's real career begins. It will be the first time that the National Rally is led by someone other than Le Pen. It remains to be seen whether Jordan Bardella can match Marine Le Pen's popularity, as critics accuse him of lacking charisma.