France's far right replaces Le Pen with Jordan Bardella

France's far-right National Rally (RN) party on Saturday chose 27-year-old Jordan Bardella to succeed longtime leader Marine Le Pen.

Bardella, who had been serving as interim party chief, garnered around 85% of party members' votes.

His rival for the job was Louis Aliot, the mayor of Perpignan and former partner of Le Pen, who got 15%.

Le Pen stepped down from the party leadership in 2021 ahead of her unsuccessful bid for the presidency in this year's elections.

Who is Jordan Bardella?

Raised by his Italian-born mother in a social housing block in the outskirts of Paris, Bardella has risen quickly through the party ranks.

He promotes an elegant image, is rarely seen out of a suit, and has made an impact with sharp performances in this year's election debates.

However, he has faced criticism from party veteran Aliot, who has accused him of encouraging white supremacist groups that should be unacceptable for a party trying to prove it can unite the country.

Bardella accused Aliot of "bitterness and bad faith," insisting his goal is to win over more supporters from traditional parties on the right and left.

What will Le Pen do?

Marine Le Pen failed to unseat President Emmanuel Macron in last spring's presidential election, but has nonetheless made her party a formidable force after taking over from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen 11 years ago.

Since then, she has pursued a policy of cleaning up the image of the party, which has long been overtly far-right, changing its name from the National Front to National Rally in 2018.

Efforts to shed their legacy of virulent antisemitic and extremist views helped RN candidates win 89 seats in the National Assembly after Macron's re-election, depriving his centrist party of an absolute majority.

With Bardella serving as chairman of the party, Le Pen plans to focus on leading the RN group in parliament, where she will have a powerful platform for a potential fourth run at the presidency in 2027.

Bardella's election marks the first time since the party's founding 50 years ago that no one from the Le Pen family will be at the helm. However, Bardella is in a relationship with the daughter of Le Pen's sister.

dh/nm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)