Who is Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pen's protégé eying French PM seat?
Jordan Bardella might be on his way to becoming the youngest PM of France
A decade ago, he would spend hours playing video games on his mobile phone as a teenager. Now, he is well poised to take on the role of French prime minister. Jordan Bardella might be on his way to becoming the youngest PM of France, that too by a long way. His National Rally (RN) party, under the leadership of firebrand politician Marine Le Pen, is looking to emerge as the largest political party in French parliamentary elections that President Emmanuel Macron called after a crushing defeat in the European elections.
Who is Jordan Bardella?
Bardella, a hardcore right-wing leader, rose to fame through his anti-immigration rants. Having grown up in the banlieue of Seine-Saint-Denis, a Parisian suburb, Bardella says he has experienced firsthand the lawlessness that unchecked immigration has brought to France.
“I have seen these lost areas of the French Republic become conquests of Islamism,” he said during a rally in 2022. “I have felt, like you and like millions of French citizens, the pain of becoming a foreigner in your own country.”
Bardella was born to parents of Italian origin and his father ran a drinks distribution business. He joined the RN in 2012 at 16. He later dropped out of an undergraduate course before shifting full-time to politics.
At the age of 21, he was appointed as party spokesperson by Marine Le Pen. In 2019, he was put in charge of heading the party’s list at the European elections, which the RN won.
Popular among young voters
With 1.3 million followers on social media network TikTok, Bardella's connect with young voters is definitely an asset to the party. He presents a softer version of 55-year-old Le Pen and her father's 'radical' and sometimes 'racist' ideas and appeals better to a balanced electorate.
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According to observers, his clean reputation may work wonders for the performance of his party in the upcoming elections.
“His name is not Le Pen, he never got into any controversy and was very cautious about what he was saying,” Sebastien Maillard, associate fellow at Chatham House, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
(With inputs from agencies)