It is 27-year-old Jordan Bardella who takes over from long-time party leader Marine Le Pen. He will be the first to lead the party who does not come from the Le Pen family. Bardella has been deputy chairman of the National Assembly since last year, and is a member of the EU Parliament. He received 85 percent of the party members’ votes, while the opposing candidate Louis Alliot received 15 percent. It became clear at the party’s 18th party congress. The change of leadership is admittedly more of a formality than a change of throne. Bardella has stated several times that he will support Le Pen in the presidential election in 2027. Marine Le Pen will also get more time to lead the party’s parliamentary group. During the elections in June, the National Assembly achieved its best result, gaining 89 out of 577 representatives. Shouted “… Go back to Africa!” in the national assembly, Bardella begins his job with a significant challenge. On Thursday 3 November, one of the party’s representatives, Grégoire de Fournas, was thrown out of the National Assembly. During a debate on the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, shouted “… Go back to Africa!” to Carlos Martens Bilongo, a black representative from the far-left party Indomitable France. – Today I was reduced to a skin colour. I was born in France, and am elected by the people in France. Here you see the true face of the National Assembly. It is a shame, Bilongo reacted on his way out of the assembly. De Fournas and the National Assembly, however, claim he was referring to the migrants who cross the Mediterranean. Jordan Bardella campaigns for the National Front on the outskirts of Paris in 2015, aged 20. Then, as now, Bardella almost always went dressed in a suit. Photo: JOEL SAGET / AFP Immigration-critical son of immigrants The young Jordan Bardella has for several years been seen as a possible heir to Le Pen, as when he became spokesperson for the party in September 2017. The 27-year-old was born in the Paris suburb of Drancy, and grew up up in another suburb, Trappes. The father has Algerian ancestry, while the mother immigrated as a child from northern Italy. The suburbs of Trappes (southwest) and Drancy (northeast) outside Paris (marked in red). On stage at the party congress on Saturday, a confident Bardella spoke for 40 minutes, without notes, about growing up on the 8th floor of a tired block. – Every day, when I looked out of the window or went into the block, there were doppelgangers checking to see if you came from the police. And across the street was an Islamic school. I saw girls as young as five dressed in hijab, Bardella said. Bardella is seen as one of the most radical in the far-right party. He is opposed to gay marriage, free trade agreements, and liberal immigration policies. He does say he will continue Le Pen’s normalization of the party. In recent years, the National Assembly, which changed its name from “National Front” in 2018, has, among other things, become less critical of the EU. In addition, the party has distanced itself greatly from founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has several times made statements that cast doubt on the Holocaust.
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27-year-old new party leader for the National Assembly in France – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
