Jordan Bardella’s rapid ascent in French politics has been so swift that he is still frequently asked about his teenage years playing “Call of Duty.” Next week, at just 28 years old, he could become France’s prime minister, making him Europe’s youngest in more than 200 years.
New face, old party
Bardella represents the new face of an old party striving to reinvent itself. Handpicked by National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen to cleanse the far-right party of its racist and antisemitic roots, Bardella has brought RN closer to power than ever before. On Sunday, RN outperformed President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in the first round of a snap parliamentary election.
The uncertainty of a far-right government
Whether RN will form a government and Bardella will become prime minister after the July 7 runoff remains unclear. Despite RN’s surge in support, France’s left and centrist parties have urged their supporters to vote tactically to deny the far right an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly. Over 200 candidates from Macron’s alliance and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) have stepped down to prevent vote splitting in the second round.
As Paris concludes a week of political maneuvering, one thing is certain: France—and Europe—must face the prospect of a far-right government led by a popular but untested leader. So, who is Bardella, and what might his party do in power?
From immigrant roots to political prominence
The only child of Italian immigrants, Bardella grew up in Seine-Saint-Denis, a working-class suburb of Paris. He joined RN at 16 and began studying geography at the prestigious Sorbonne University before dropping out to climb the party ranks. Bardella quickly rose through the party, becoming its spokesperson and later the lead candidate for the 2019 European Parliament election at just 23. After Le Pen’s narrow loss to Macron in the 2022 presidential election, Bardella succeeded her as party leader, leapfrogging the party’s longtime vice-president and Le Pen’s former partner, Louis Aliot.
Le Pen’s legacy and Bardella’s rise
Le Pen has used her time away from daily party management to rejuvenate RN’s image. She began her effort to detoxify RN by ousting her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted Holocaust denier, and later changing the party’s name. Bardella’s rise may represent the culmination of her mission to modernize the party. For many older voters, a far-right government reminiscent of the Vichy regime during World War II is alarming. However, among young people, unburdened by historical associations, the party has gained significant popularity.
Bardella, suave and unflappable, has built a massive TikTok following, where young voters watch him tasting wine and doing shots. Even a video of him eating a bonbon has been viewed 7.5 million times.
While RN’s messaging remains similar, the messenger has changed. Bardella’s fresh image has made RN more acceptable and potentially electable. Unlike Macron’s Ensemble alliance, which has distanced itself from the president’s image, RN’s election manifesto features prominent portraits of the prime minister-in-waiting.
The challenge of governing
If he becomes prime minister, Bardella will face the common problem of transitioning from protest to governance. Despite its new image, RN’s longstanding philosophy persists: immigrants threaten France’s social fabric. RN is committed to abolishing birthright citizenship for children of foreigners and prioritizing French citizens in welfare and public employment.
On other issues, RN’s 21-page manifesto is vague. It promises to “preserve French civilization” with “specific legislation targeting Islamist ideologies” and to “experiment with the creation of a voluntary national heritage service.”
RN has tempered some extreme positions, such as banning dual citizenship. Bardella has softened this stance but insists that “the most strategic positions” in government should be reserved for French citizens, questioning, “Can you imagine Franco-Russians working at the Ministry of the Armed Forces today?”
Critics argue that Bardella’s lack of policy expertise and frequent absence from key votes in the European Parliament make him unfit to govern. In a debate with outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Bardella admitted, with a smirk, that he had not read the text of a bill he voted against.
RN pledges to slash value-added tax on energy products and suspend it for basic necessities, alarming Brussels and financial markets. France, with one of the highest deficits in the eurozone, risks breaching the European Commission’s new fiscal rules.
“If the RN falls short of the 289 seats needed for a majority, Bardella might choose not to govern. He has ruled out leading a minority government, which would require allied parties’ support to pass laws. While France might avoid a far-right government now, Le Pen’s potential 2027 presidential run could see Bardella as prime minister later.
The Meloni model
Since 2022, nativist parties have followed Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who became prime minister after Mario Draghi’s government collapsed. Despite initial fears, Meloni’s premiership has been more moderate than expected, maintaining a mainstream foreign policy while pursuing hard-right domestic policies.
RN’s Euroskepticism has cooled, likely due to Brexit’s economic impact and leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orban showing it’s easier to weaken the EU from within. RN promises to cut EU funding to finance domestic tax cuts, but legally can’t alter the current EU budget running until 2027. Bardella also opposes sending French troops to Ukraine, countering Macron’s suggestion, and restricts French military equipment use to non-Russian targets.
A Bardella premiership could cause a constitutional crisis. With Macron as president until 2027, domestic and foreign policy lines might blur, complicating governance under different party leaderships.
