Saturday, November 05, 2022

France’s Far-right National Rally Elects New President to Replace Le Pen

THE GUARDIAN: ordan Bardella, 27, who joined the party as a teenager and is a protege of Marine Le Pen, replaces her as leader

Jordan Bardella, newly-elected president of the RN party, holds the hand of Marine Le Pen after the results during the National Rally party's Congress in Paris, France. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) has elected a 27-year-old from the Paris banlieue who joined the party as a teenager as its new president to replace Marine Le Pen.

The result means that for the first time since the party – originally the National Front – was created in 1972, it will not be run by a Le Pen.

Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protege, who has been caretaker president for a year, beat Louis Aliot, 53, the mayor of Perpignan, a party heavyweight as well as Le Pen’s former partner, by 85% to 15% of party members who voted.

There were cheers and a standing ovation as Le Pen announced the result. The handover comes at a tense time for the RN after one of its MPs was suspended from parliament for a racist outburst last week. » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Saturday, November 5, 2022

Marine Le Pen passe la main à Jordan Bardella pour diriger le Rassemblement national : L’eurodéputé, qui assure l’intérim de la présidence du RN depuis un an, a obtenu 84,84 % des suffrages lors du vote qui s’est déroulé dans la matinée. »

Politischer Ziehsohn von Le Pen wird neuer Parteichef : Er ist jung, stramm rechtsnational und binnen kürzester Zeit aufgestiegen: Jordan Bardella übernimmt den Vorsitz des Rassemblement National. Die größte Herausforderung erwartet ihn in der Provinz. »