Disappointment after seven years with the same president gives the French far right a high swing in the EU election. And 28-year-old Jordan Bardella has his sights set on the prime minister's post.
Youthfulness weighed heavily when only 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest president in the 2017 election, thanks to promises to offer something other than what established parties could do.
Now the same method is being used against him, as 28-year-old Jordan Bardella is the leading figure for the far right in the National Rally (RN) ahead of the EU election.
RN is on its way to a landslide victory with over 30% of the votes, largely thanks to the star status of its young party leader, with sharp tongue and elegant suits.
Bardella grew up in the suburb of Saint-Denis, north of Paris, in a family of Italian and Algerian origin. Although he himself likes to make a point of a tough environment to grow up in, with divorced parents, his relatively well-off father had the means to let him attend a private school.
He became a party member at the age of 17, was elected to the regional council at the age of 20, and was the RN's top candidate already in the previous EU election in 2019.
Since then, he has honed his skills further and has formally taken over as party leader in RN after Marine Le Pen – whose niece Nolwenn Olivier is also his partner.
Marine Le Pen is still the clear leader of the party, with her sights set on the next French presidential election in 2027. If she succeeds, it would be likely that Bardella will become her first choice as new prime minister.
His successes are a combination of discontent with Macron, a general upswing for the far right's ideas in Europe, and a more restrained RN – which is also currently being treated more favorably by TV and newspapers in France, especially on the right side.
Here is the opinion poll situation in France ahead of the EU election, according to the Ifop institute (with EU group affiliation in parentheses):
* National Rally (EU-critical conservative ID): 33.5%
* Renewal (liberal RE): 15.5%
* Socialist Party (social democratic S&D): 14%
* Republicans (conservative EPP): 7%
* Unbowed France (left-wing GUE/NGL): 7%
* Ecologists (environmentalist Gr/EFA): 6.5%
The survey was conducted from May 28 to 31 by Ifop for the TV channel LCI, the newspaper Le Figaro, and Sud Radio.
