New Head of French National Rally Party Elected as Marine Le Pen Steps Down, Reports Say
Newly elected French party Rassemblement National (RN)’s president Jordan Bardella, next to French party Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group leader Marine Le Pen, thanks the audience during the Rassemblement National’s 18th congress in Paris on November 5, 2022. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
PARIS (Sputnik) – Jordan Bardella has been elected as the new chairman of the French National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen since 2011, French media reported on Saturday.According to the results of the vote, 27-year-old Bardella, the acting head of the party, won after gaining 84.84% of the votes, while his opponent, Louis Aliot, got 15.16%, the reports said.Later in the day, Le Pen said that her resignation as party chairman didn’t mean she was leaving the party.
"I'm not leaving the National Rally to take rest, I remain mobilized… I will be where the country needs me," Le Pen said after the vote, adding that she "still has a lot to do."
She added that the party “has won the ideological battle.”At the end of June, Le Pen said that she was stepping down as the leader of her National Rally party as she would head the parliamentary group of the faction in the French National Assembly.Bardella replaced Le Pen as party leader during the 2022 French presidential campaign.© Sputnik / Kristina Afanasyeva / Go to the mediabankMarine Le Pen, French presidential candidate and leader of the political party the National Front, during a news conference following the first round of the presidential election.
Marine Le Pen, French presidential candidate and leader of the political party the National Front, during a news conference following the first round of the presidential election. / Go to the mediabankIn 2012, at the age of 16, Bardella joined Le Pen’s party, and in 2014 headed National Rally organization in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, becoming the youngest regional leader of the party.In September 2017, he joined Le Pen’s campaign headquarters for the presidential election. Since 2019, Bardella has been a member of the European Parliament.
