Le Pen's 'lion cub' protege prepares to bare his claws

Jordan Bardella, the president of the far-right National Rally party, is seeking to derail Emmanuel Macron's government

- ANDY GREGORY

Jordan Bardella has been credited with the success of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party in the weekend’s EU parliamentary elections.

The charismatic 28-year-old son of immigrants was brought up in high-rise flats in a run-down suburb of Paris by a single mother. He could be prime minister of France in a matter of weeks after Emmanuel Macron shocked the nation by calling a snap election in the wake of his party’s thrashing at the ballot box.

Bardella, president of RN, inflicted a serious blow to President Macron and his Renaissance party, taking more than 30 per cent of the vote at the weekend. Alongside Marine Le Pen, Bardella will be the face of RN as it tries to win a majority in parliament.

The decision by Macron to dissolve France’s parliament and let “the sovereign people have their say” could hand major political power to the far right after years on the sidelines. The surprise move appears calculated to catch his opponents off guard and shock voters into turning out in large numbers to reject the far right, with finance minister Bruno Le Maire calling the vote on 30 June “the most consequential” parliamentary ballot in France’s modern political history.

Bardella was quickly identified as a rising star in the party he joined as a teenager and he took over as president of RN in 2022. “He is not affected by the taboo that surrounds the National Front vote,” Le Pen has previously said, adding: “He’s part of a new generation.”