Presented in twelfth position on Jordan Bardella’s list for the European elections, Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, RN figure in Reunion, was elected this Sunday June 9, 2024.
The announcement of the appointment of Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain surprised more than one. Traveling in the overseas territories of the Indian Ocean in April, Marine Le Pen took advantage of her invitation to the Antenne Réunion channel newspaper to announce the candidacy of Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain for the European elections of June 9, 2024. Placed in Twelfth position on Jordan Bardella’s list, the 64-year-old Reunion Islander was elected to the European Parliament following the vote. She is the sixth woman from the RN elected to the European Parliament and the highest placed among the overseas representatives. The professional nurse, now retired, is an important figure in the far-right party in Reunion.
Used to elections
Involved since 1980 with the National Rally (at the time Front National), Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain is the companion of Maurice Brasier, founder of the Front National federation and friend of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died in 2022. She had took over when her husband left political life.
Accustomed to political elections, Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain engaged for the first time in an electoral campaign in 2012, during the legislative elections in the fourth constituency of Reunion and obtained the score of 3%. Two years later, in 2014, his name appeared in 17th position on the National Front electoral list for the municipal elections in Saint-Pierre. The same year, she was named head of the list for the Overseas constituency in the European elections. A prosperous year for the party which for the first time came first in the votes in France.
In 2019, Jordan Bardella had already positioned Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain on the European list but in an ineligible position at 60th position. This year, his placement in 12th position guaranteed him an election according to the results of polls which credited the National Rally with more than 30% of voting intentions and predicted the election of at least thirty candidates.
A close friend of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Her presence on the list surprised more than one, she being the first to say she learned the news while watching the television news. His profile was retained, instead of that of the former departmental delegate Joseph Rivière, proposed by the local federation. A choice made by Jordan Bardella, supported by Marine Le Pen and applauded by the voters of Réunion who preferred her to Joseph Rivière, judged for his score in the last regional elections (1.74%).
This appointment is a sign of the confidence of the head of the RN list in Reunion Island and a strong symbol of the party in its continued conquest of overseas territories. In the last elections Marine Le Pen obtained 59% of the votes in the second round of the presidential election on the overseas island and 31% in the last European elections. The party continues its rapprochement with the overseas territories of the Indian Ocean where it is increasingly popular due to tensions linked to insecurity, poverty and migration from Africa and Asia.
But it is also a choice which may seem to break with the policy of de-demonization carried out by the far-right party, which aims to distance itself as much as possible from the ideas of Jean-Marie Le Pen, since the Reunionese candidate Marie- Luce Brasier-Clain is a long-time friend of the former party president who notably stayed with the couple on several occasions in the 1990s.