The French National Rally Party leader, Marine Le Pen, will be the only candidate for the presidency from the far-right political force in the next elections in 2027.
Julien Odoul, spokesperson for the National Rally, stated this in an interview with the French channel Europe 1. Marine Le Pen is now the chairwoman of the National Rally group at the French National Assembly.
According to Odoul, “Marine Le Pen does not want to govern France; she wants to lead France.” “She will be our candidate in the next presidential election in 2027,” said Le Pen’s associate.
Odoul also announced that in the case of early elections—demanded by some MPs dissatisfied with the recently adopted migration law—the current head of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, would run for the post of French prime minister.
Marine Le Pen has twice run for the French presidential election in 2017 and 2022, but both times she lost to center-right Emmanuel Macron. However, the reform to raise the retirement age and the recently adopted law on tightening migration laws shook Emmanuel Macron’s popularity.
Instead, Marine Le Pen herself has moved away from the most radical right-wing narratives, and her popularity has continued to grow since 2022.
Read also: How migration bill has become a challenge to Macron’s government
If the presidential election were held now, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right French National Rally Party, would defeat Emmanuel Macron, according to a recent poll.
The Elabe group of companies conducted a survey for the BFMTV TV channel, providing such conclusions.
According to the poll, Le Pen would win 55% of the vote in France in the second round of voting, while incumbent President Macron would win only 45%.
In the April 2022 elections, Macron won with 58.5% against Le Pen’s 41.5%, making it the first time in two decades that a French president was elected for a second term.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has previously stated the risk of the far-right politician winning the next presidential election in 2027.
Some observers also consider Darmanin a potential candidate for the 2027 French presidential election.
“If we allow a significant part of the working class and middle class to go to Marine Le Pen, the managerial class will not support us in the second round,” said the French Interior Minister, who has not yet said whether he will run in the 2027 elections.
The minister added that “this aspect of society is crucial” and “can lead Marine Le Pen to victory in 2027, not the issue of migration.”
The current French President, Emmanuel Macron, cannot run in the 2027 elections after serving two terms. Potential candidates from the center-right and conservative camps, including Darmanin and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, are already positioning themselves as potential participants in the next election.
About three-quarters of the French population opposes the controversial pension reform, which has primarily contributed to the rise in popularity of the leader of the far-right National Rally.
Le Pen has played a minimal role in the debate over the reform, recently announcing that if her party takes power, it will cancel the reform and propose an alternative through a referendum.
In foreign policy, Le Pen is known for her favorable attitude toward Russia and a loan from a Russian bank for her party back in 2014. France has been investigating the Kremlin’s influence on Le Pen.
Le Pen rejected accusations that a €9.4 million loan from a Russian bank in 2014 influenced her views or activities.
The National Rally leader has consistently supported the illegal annexation of part of Ukraine’s territory, but in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she suddenly claimed that Moscow had “violated Ukrainian sovereignty.”
Read also: Paris prosecutor’s office wants to try Le Pen for embezzlement of EU funds
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Le Pen tried to distance herself from dictator Putin. However, she still played into Moscow’s hands by opposing the support of Ukraine with weapons.
Nevertheless, foreign policy is far from being the decisive factor for French voters, despite the fact that the confrontation with Russia has disastrous consequences for the whole of Europe.
