Marine Le Pen’s 27-year-old ‘general’ Jordan Bardella elected president of French far-right party 

Marine Le Pen’s 27-year-old ‘general’ has been elected as the new president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National party.

Today, the party known as the National Rally elected Jordan Bardella to take over from Le Pen, who failed to dissuade Emmanuel Macron in this year’s presidential election in April.

The historic move means Bardella will be the party’s first leader not to be a member of the Le Pen family.

MEP Bardella won 84.8 percent of the party’s vote, against 15.16 percent for his challenger Louis Aliot, a party veteran of more than 30 years and Le Pen’s former friend.

The results were announced this morning at a conference in Paris. He celebrated with the leader of the party, Le Pen. Bardella previously described himself as Le Pen’s ‘general’.

He is expected to address the rally later today. His nomination comes after the party had its best-ever performance in parliamentary elections earlier this year, winning 89 seats, even after Le Pen’s third failed presidential election.

Bardella, who has been acting chairman of the party since September 2021, has embraced Le Pen’s efforts to shake off the virulently anti-Semitic and extremist views of her father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was expelled in 2015.

Jordan Bardella, 27, (pictured) has been chosen to take over the French far-right party Rassemblement National, known as the National Rally

Bardella has been acting chairman of the party since September 2021. He was widely expected to win the election.

The National Rally is a far-right party in France known for its anti-immigration and extremist views.

Le Pen, who took over from her father’s party leader in 2011, won 13 million votes in the most recent election.

The 27-year-old was raised by his Italian-born mother in the Parisian suburbs

During the leadership contest, she said she would ban people from wearing Muslim headscarves in public, called for a referendum on immigration controls and promised a series of tax cuts to tackle the cost of living.

She also vowed to hold a referendum to bring back the death penalty in France and ban wind turbines. President Macron, in a fierce response, has been accused of holding on to “authoritarian” views and decrying her plan as a “deviation.”

By stepping down as party leader, Le Pen is expected to focus more on leading the National Rally in parliament ahead of the 2027 presidential election, which she is expected to go for.

Earlier this week, the incoming party chief became entangled in a racism spat after a far-right MP from his party shouted ‘go back to Africa’ to a black MP.

The French National Assembly voted Friday to punish MP Gregoire de Fournas after his comments to 31-year-old Carlos Martens Bilongo, which caused parliament to be suspended.

The spat broke out when the National Rally party member challenged the government’s response to the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean.

He later said he was referring to the boat, not his fellow lawmaker, but Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday that Bardella had shown his complicity in “everyday racism”.

Bardella and Le Pen at their ‘Hope to Power’ party at the National Assembly earlier this month

After the incident, Bardella insisted that Mr De Fournas had intended the return of boats to African ports and accused the government of “extreme dishonesty”.

Bardella also faces the daunting task of getting the party on a solid financial footing as she faces investigations into alleged misuse of public funds by party members, including Le Pen.

The new party chairman was raised by his Italian-born mother in the Parisian suburbs.