The ringing of the phone startles him. The name, which appears on the screen, ceases to worry him. On the line, Marine Le Pen. “I would like to suggest that you take the lead in the European elections.” Jordan Bardella remains perplexed. We are at the end of 2018, a few months before the election. The young man is 23 years old. Spokesperson for the far-right party for several months, he took his first card there at 16. For a long time, he dabbled in the Frontist ecosystem, hanging out in the rooms of the Forum, this strange building on rue Jeanne-d’Arc where the young people of the party had taken up residence. He made his first encounters there, was quickly spotted, took the head of the federation of Seine-Saint-Denis until he rubbed shoulders with the top frontist, and received, a few years later, this call from the boss. Courted, he barely takes the time to think, asks for one or two pieces of advice. To Jean-Lin Lacapelle, in particular, history of the Front, who told him to go for it. Marine Le Pen warns him: he has no right to make mistakes. This election must be the stepping stone for the candidate defeated in 2017 to establish herself as the first competitor to Emmanuel Macron. “If we finish second, that calls everything into question,” the Pas-de-Calais MP tells him.
Deal. Jordan Bardella will lead the FN list for the 2019 European elections. For Marine Le Pen, the choice is strategic. It allows, first of all, to avoid placing, once again, a Le Pen at the head of the gondola. A nominee rather than a foil surname, it’s worth a try. Also a way for her, party leader, to avoid the inconvenience of clan wars. Internally, several personalities had already positioned themselves to wear the navy blue colors in the European Parliament. Sébastien Chenu or Louis Aliot would not have said no. Eric Zemmour also, to whom the party offered third place, was rather eyeing the first. But party quarrels, more than anything, annoy Jean-Marie Le Pen’s daughter. So she decides by brandishing her youth card. A new, smooth profile, coming from a working-class background and not yet affiliated with this or that chapel, who could well become a pure sailor. The prospect is encouraging. A good student, Jordan Bardella is diligent. At each meeting before a media appearance, he arrives prepared, files in hand and well combed. “He was very studious, very hardworking, it helped to consolidate the choice of Marine”, recalls Renaud Labaye, secretary general of the RN group in the Assembly, who was already hanging around at the time. The young candidate understood the rules. It doesn’t take up too much space, doesn’t require much. Oh, of course, if there was still a small eligible place for her friend Mathilde Androuët, that would be very kind… Request granted. For the rest, it is essentially Marine Le Pen who completes the list.
“We shared the same conviction: that Marine was worthless”
Jordan Bardella is not alone, however. He already has a small team. Some, like François Paradol or Pierre-Romain Thionnet, placed at the head of the youth movement, are still at his side. Others had to be sacrificed on the altar of success. Reductions necessary to sit on the right of the mother. Some have bitter memories of it. “I remember that before all this started, we all met in a trucking camp in Saint-Lazare, to think about how to take sides. We shared the same conviction: that Marine was useless and that we had to replace. Then Jordan got caught in the process,” says one of them. There is no longer any question of ousting Marine Le Pen today. And the entourage of the MEP as well as that of the boss strive to describe the aspects of a quasi-filial relationship. “There is a learning path side, from adolescent to young adult for Jordan, sells a close friend of Marine Le Pen. The duo progressed at the same time, took political depth from him, and she this side preparation for power.”
Five years later, Jordan Bardella’s costumes are better cut, and his step is more assured. He is once again launching into the European battle, still dubbed by Marine Le Pen. A presidential election happened there. Thanks to her, the young protege inherited the presidency of the party, which his mentor wanted to offload, and a status of No. 2, taboo internally since it implies the existence of a form of competition. . Among the executives, we therefore compete in formulas to try to make journalists understand that there is no animosity between the frontist and her heir. “With us there is no No. 1 and No. 2, there is a No. 1 and a No. 1 bis,” assures the RN vice-president of the Assembly Sébastien Chenu. Clarification: “There is no question of minimizing the role of the party president, who is neither a child nor a parrot, but our referent and our candidate for 2027 remains Marine Le Pen.” The fashion is therefore to present the duo as a “winning ticket”, in the style of president and Prime Minister. A distribution of roles already developed during the presidential campaign, which allowed the far-right candidate to focus on more consensual subjects (such as purchasing power) and to let Jordan Bardella hit hard and hard on the regalian and the “great replacement”.
“This is going to be his Darmanin moment”
The young lead, often accused of having more identity, adapts to this role. For this second ballot, he also intends to speak to the right, and adopt a civilizational and ethnic discourse, while Marine Le Pen focuses on the next presidential election. At the party, we look at the deadline as a new baptism of fire for this homemade prodigy with a flawless course who must now prove himself in complete autonomy. And will also be the sole accountant of its balance sheet. Marine Le Pen, whom he still sees, therefore assured that he would manage list and campaign matters alone. At the RN, we wonder: will it place its faithful, even those who, like Pierre-Romain Thionnet – whose line is considered too hard –, are not unanimous? “It’s going to be his Darmanin moment,” analyzes a former close friend. “Either he crashes and plays passive, or he resists and takes his independence.” For his campaign, the president of the far-right party surrounded himself with a close team. But the sailors are never far away. Several, like MP Sébastien Chenu, have already sent him notes on the line to adopt. You will have to deal with them. “Yes, Marine will let Jordan do it,” concedes a European elected official. But, ideologically, she will mark out both sides: he will not be able to talk about a free economy or a real identity.” And if Jordan Bardella officially has control over the content of the list, a national investiture commission made up of members of the executive office (BE) will be responsible for validating the candidates. And in case of disagreement? “The majority will decide,” smiles a member of the BE.
Others, less strategists, are sincerely worried about this little competitive music that the media seem to want to raise, and that the opposing parties cheerfully feed. In Macronie, for example, we are full of praise for the work and speaking skills of the young frontist. Eric Zemmour, so quick to qualify Marine Le Pen as a “leftist”, even assures: “Jordan Bardella has ideas that I cannot reject since they are mine.” Bardella, darling of Zemmourie? The idea is not new. The MEP says: “We are not clones, we have different sensitivities and backgrounds.” Rather than “neither right nor left”, he claims to be “popular right”, with a “social fiber”, considers civilizational and demographic issues as major. But he also knows it, at the Front, there is no salvation in secession. The history of the party is there to remind him, like the famous sentence of Jean-Marie Le Pen addressed to his heir Bruno Gollnisch: “The destiny of dolphins is sometimes to run aground.”