Meet Jordan Bardella, the man who might be the closest France gets to a prime minister

Marine Le Pen is the name that comes to mind every time France’s hard-right National Rally party comes to mind, but it is her protégé Jordan Bardella who may be thrown into some of the tougher roles in France after the snap elections.

Bardella has risen through the ranks of the euroskeptic and anti-immigration National Rally (Rassemblement National, or RN) to become its president in 2022, with his early life, looks and social-media savvy helping to attract young people. Voter.

Soon, if the RN wins an absolute majority in the impending parliamentary elections he could easily become Prime Minister – and he is only 28 years old.

Bardella’s rise from party spokesperson in 2017 to party president in the span of five years is quite remarkable for someone just 28 years old. CNBC has influence over Bardella and his meteoric rise to prominence.

Born in 1995 in Drancy, a northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, an area that has become synonymous with deprivation, high crime rates and inadequate family housing, Bardella was the only child of Italian-born parents. , even though his father’s grandfather used to be Algerian.

Bardella excelled in economics and social sciences at a private school and joined the National Rally – later called the National Front – at the age of 16. He then studied at the Paris Sorbonne College, before dropping out along the way to focus on politics.

Professionals say Bardella has regularly praised his rational background to attract voters, particularly those who have joined the contemporary anti-government Yellow Vests in protest of rising housing prices and financial inequality. Must have participated in the protests.

Political commentators say that Bardella’s father was actually a hit businessman who lived in the affluent suburb of Montmorency, where Bardella spent much of his youth after his parents divorced. Bardella and the RN, on the other hand, have essentially made the most of his “modest origins”.

“While many in the French political establishment studied politics, Bardella studied geography before abandoning studies to concentrate on his political career. He does not shy away from talking about his humble origins and those They are among the few high-profile politicians who may learn first-hand the experience of disadvantage and geographical marginalisation, Joseph Downing, visiting fellow at the EU Institute at the London Faculty of Economics, writes in contemporary research.

He said, “Even the leader of the far left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, although born in Morocco to European resident parents, lacks some of Bardella’s council estate credentials.”

Bardella’s rise to prominence has come under the auspices of party chief, Marine Le Pen, with reports suggesting that he came to her attention when he dated the daughter of her common friend and confidant, Frédéric Châtillon. In fact, within weeks of meeting Le Pen in 2017, he was reportedly made the party’s spokesperson. Over the next two years, he became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) before being made party president in 2022.

Bardella’s rapid rise in the party has earned her the nickname of being Le Pen’s “lion cub”, but this was likely a more strategic move by the experienced baby-kisser as she sought to modernize and join the party. Ancient voters.

A suave and (some say) good-looking political personality who is popular on social media – Bardella has 1.6 million TikTok fans – he has softened the birthday party’s far-right symbolism and popularity, attracting more youth. The profile and attractiveness of the birthday party has been raised among the. Society and women voters. This phenomenon has also been called “Bardella Mania” because large numbers of young girls attend campaign events just to catch a glimpse of the man kissing the little boy on stage.

Bardella’s consumer appeal has also fueled complaints of him being the “poster boy” of the hard-right. Critics say his media savvy and rhetoric on dealing with immigration and crime will likely attract voters as a ‘cri de coeur’, although he lacks substance and specifics, leading to exposure that has lagged behind the coverage.

HS’s voting record as a member of the European Parliament has also come under scrutiny, with allegations that he has supported positive issues in the domestic debate, such as women’s rights for abortion and equal pay and immigration control measures. rights. Absent from voting on such issues in the EU Parliament. Bardella has denied the allegations of absence.

Bardella has instructed voters that he will “restore order”, curb immigration and crack down on crime, but he and Le Pen have retreated from some of their more stringent promises and rhetoric, for example, on France’s return to NATO. They have retreated on the issue of expulsion from India and are adopting a soft stance. The birthday party’s historically pro-Russian stance. He said he would still support sending arms to Ukraine but not the deployment of field troops, as Macron had suggested on one occasion.

“First of all, Le Pen and Bardella are trying to reassure voters and markets that they will not rock the boat,” Holger Schmieding, the renowned economist at Berenberg Cupboard, said in a note on end of life.

“They are not insisting on Le Pen’s previous fiscal demands (changes to pension reform, larger tax cuts for young and/or low-income citizens). Instead, Le Pen has promised that an RN-led government Will work with President Macron “Not to back down It seems that the political centre, RN, has quietly abandoned the pro-Putin parts of its previous manifesto,” he said.

Bardella’s power has been hit by French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call snap elections after the RN was overtaken by his Renaissance Birthday Party in EU Parliament elections in June.

The move is clearly a dangerous gamble for Macron as it could greatly empower his political opponents ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Analysts say Macron may be betting on the RN to gain an additional important position in French politics, but while he has the extra power, he is failing to initiate it, leading to its collapse before the 2027 vote. The air will go out.

A handful of opinion polls conducted in June showed the populist-nationalist RN leading with 35% of the vote, ahead of the leftist Untouchable Common Front bloc with 25–26%, and Macron’s centrist coalition in third. Park with about 19% of the vote.

Although the likely outcome of the vote is a hung parliament, analysts say a strong showing at the nationwide rally will put pressure on Macron to nominate a prime minister from the party.

After this, the PM will have a key role in France’s domestic and financial coverage to date, with Macron, as president, remaining in control of international coverage and security.

National Rally has already said Bardella could be put forward as its choice for premiership if the party performs well, with party chief Marine Le Pen likely to be its candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

Bardella said at the end of his life that he would only accept the post of Prime Minister if the RN was given an absolute majority in the vote, with the RN, on the other hand, clinging to the expectation of a potentially vulnerable and unstable minority government.

For his part, Bardella has recently emphasized that he “will need an absolute majority to govern,” so I’m challenging his supporters to get out and vote.