Nigel Farage in No.10, with Monsieur ‘Faragist’ Bardella in the Elysée Palace?

At a party of EU right-wing leaders, closing speech went to Le Pen’s protégé rivalling Farage in popularity

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

Marine Le Pen accepts ‘Honorary President’ title from Orban & Wilders - sign of transfer of power to Bardella?

As Nigel Farage and his Reform UK Party go from strength to strength in the opinion polls and in electoral advances at local and by-election levels, something similar has been happening in parts of the EU empire.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s young deputy, Jordan Bardella, is now as popular as his boss amongst French voters, despite not yet being 30 years old. Currently just outperforming the Reform UK Leader, the latest polling is showing him as the easy victor in the first round of the next French presidential elections in 2027, with a 10-point lead. Unlike Nigel, however, Bardella has to face the electors again in the second round, where he is currently showing as being neck-and-neck with the potential rivals he faces.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The Patriots' 'MEGA' party, Mon 09 Jun 2025

Following an event on Monday, we look at the comparative popularity of Nigel Farage and Le Pen’s possible successor, Jordan Bardella. At this event the leaders of the EU’s right-wing parties met for a celebration party in the middle of France. Facts4EU brings you the highlights, the private photos, and the speculation about whether Le Pen will soon hand over to her young protégé, rather than fight the embezzlement charge which is preventing her from standing again for the Presidency.

Nigel versus Jordan – The popularity stakes

The first thing to make clear is that whilst both Mr Farage and M. Bardella may be described as ‘populists’, their policies are different in many areas. The one thing they do have in common, of course, is a strong dislike of the concept of a federalist European Union superstate.

Another similarity is in their growing popularity. Whilst this is impossible to compare directly due to the different British and French voting systems, below is a chart which gives some idea.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella - relative popularities

The prequel

Prior to the event itself, party leaders stopped around half-way south from Paris to the eventual venue to gather at Fontainebleau, where we have obtained some photos of them enjoying some private moments, together of course with a compulsory group shot for the press.

They were joined in a show of unity from Washington DC by Kevin Roberts, head of the highly-influential conservative US think tank the Heritage Foundation. As can be seen by the photo, the atmosphere seemed genuinely relaxed.

La ‘Fête de la Victoire’ - The event itself

An hour-and-a-half’s drive south from Paris, on Monday afternoon (09 Jun 2025) the distinguished group of the leaders of almost all the EU’s right-wing - aka “far-right” or “extreme-right” if you work at the BBC - gathered for an outdoor party with speeches, in the French sunshine. The notable omission was Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, the favourite of President Trump, as her party is not in the Patriots Group in the EU Parliament.

Held to celebrate the emphatic victory of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (National Rally) exactly one year earlier at the EU Parliamentary elections, with the exception of Ms Meloni almost all the Great and the Good from decidedly right-of-centre parties assembled in a show of unity rarely seen in the political world. From Viktor Orban, to Geert Wilders, to la Grande Dame herself, they addressed the crowd and told them exactly what they wanted to hear.

If the crowd thought the crowning moment was when Mme Le Pen was awarded the title ‘Honorary President of the Patriots’ – the name of the group of right-wing parties which is the third-largest bloc in the EU Parliament – they could think encore une fois. For onto the stage strode the great white hope of the Right in France, the 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, leader of the RN in the EU Parliament and President of the party nationally.

With Marine Le Pen still banned from running in the next Presidential Elections in France after her embezzlement conviction, it will be Monsieur Bardella who will carry the flame unless Mme le Pen appeals and is successful. On Monday, we watched a speech from a young man very much in the ascendant in France.

The invitation list

Branded ‘MEGA’ – ‘Make Europe Great Again’ – the list of speakers who showed up at this ‘Fête de la Victoire

Marine Le Pen : Leader and Deputé, Rassemblement National in National Assembly, France
Jordan Bardella : President, Rassemblement National, MEP and Leader of Patriots for Europe in EU Parliament
Viktor Orban : Prime Minister, Hungary, Fidesz party
Geert Wilders : Election winner, The Netherlands, PVV party (Government currently caretaker status)
Matteo Salvini : Deputy Prime Minister, Italy, Lega party
Andrej Babis : Former Prime Minister, Czech Republic, Leader of ANO party
Santiago Abascal : Spain, Leader of Vox party
Plus leaders of Austria’s FPO, Poland’s Ruch Narodowy, Portugal’s Chega, and Denmark’s Dansk Fol

Selected quotes from the speeches

“The story of how Hungary holds the line against Brusselian overreach. We stopped illegal migration, protect our families, and continue to defend our nation’s sovereignty. Now Europe’s patriots are rising and history is calling. United, it’s time to reclaim our future!”
- Viktor Orban

“We will reform the European Union to refound Europe on a real democracy, that is to say based on the will of the peoples. We will reform it in order to provide Europe with an area of cooperation for free and unconstrained states.”
“The European Union has now gone beyond the federal model to a centralized unitary state. If we take a little height and in the light of history, we understand that the European Union can now be characterized in a single word: an empire.”
- Marine Le Pen

And finally, the headline act

“On 9 June 2024, the people stood up in front of those who want to dissolve the nations in a federal superstate, impose mass immigration as an insurmountable horizon, and who have renounced the defence of our sovereignty and our interests in the face of the great powers of our time.”
"We do not reject Europe. We reject their Europe. We reject the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen: the Europe of endless standards, open borders, compulsory uprooting. We reject Macron’s Europe, preferring the Europe of the Nations.”
- Jordan Bardella

Populism (or 'Sovereignty') is for the young in the EU

There was one noticeable feature of the MEGA / ‘Fête de la Victoire’ event which stood out in comparison with rallies of Reform UK, and that was the presence of so many young people. As Facts4EU has reported on many occasions, the Right is particularly popular amongst the young across the EU. This was in full evidence at this party, where many thousands showed up in the relatively small venue.

Reform UK is also targeting this demographic with increasing success, but the Patriots group can already be said to be very strong amongst younger voters – something which may play to their advantage in the various elections coming up, and in particular the French Presidential elections in 2027.

Observations

France, like several other EU countries, is in deep trouble both economically and in terms of governance. In the case of the former, it has proved impossible for any of President Macron’s four Prime Ministers to make any inroads into France’s ballooning debt. With its debt to GDP ratio approaching embarrassingly high proportions, its GDP growth marginal (and probably exaggerated), high taxes and social security contributions, and public spending now at 57% of GDP and rising, there seems to be nothing France’s paralysed National Assembly is able to do about it. Its debt to GDP ratio is now at around 115% - far beyond the Eurozone’s rules.

Around two-thirds of French people want the retirement age to go back up to 64 (from 62), when in fact a move to 68% is almost essential if France is not to suffer a very severe crunch. Only a deranged (or seriously optimistic-thinking) entrepreneur would want to start a company in France these days. The whole area of employment rules could easily bankrupt a start-up before it had really started up at all.

Governance

As for the second point, governance, this is frankly an embarrassment. The Assemblée is split in three ways and even those three notional groupings are split. Macron’s fourth Prime Minister in under two years is almost a member of the walking dead and it can only be a matter of time before Marine Le Pen chooses to bring him down.

Nevertheless, on Monday this did not stop Mme Le Pen and the ambitious and fast-rising star of the Right, Jordan Bardella, from celebrating their growth in popularity with Right-Wing colleagues from across the EU. Whilst almost no EU political party calls for their own versions of Brexit, they are as one in seeing a dismantling of the EU bloc as a superstate, and a return to a Europe of independent nations trading together.

This would see a demolition of enormous proportions of the whole Brussels edifice. Instead, what we may see is an increase in the inability for von der Leyen to get anything agreed at the EU Council. Her Green Deal – the No.1 priority of her Commission’s programme – has now been so watered down as to be blue with a greenish tinge around the edges.

Immigration and open borders

Then there is immigration. Von der Leyen’s years of struggle to get something agreed to share the burden across all member states is now virtually on life support. People across the EU have now finally woken up to the problems created, which had their main origins back in 2015. Take a bow, Frau Merkel. In Germany, the ant-immigration AfD party is the official opposition in the Bundestag.

Finally, the Schengen Zone of open borders - one of the EU's "jewels in the crown" - is such a thing of the past it will soon be taught in history lessons in the EU’s schools.

It’s little wonder the Patriots all seemed in such a good mood on Monday.

Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.

[ Sources: Patriots | RN | Other French sources ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 11 June 2025

Click here to go to our news headlines

Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget actually to post your message after you have previewed it!

Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments

Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

From £3 per month

Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first

Quick One-off

Monthly

PLEASE NOTE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT : You can write your comment under any existing comments below. After you have clicked to preview your comment, you MUST then click on the CAPTCHA system and send you comment, for it to be published. Thank you!

Reader Comments 8

1. Sparky , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 06:56:

The way things are, we may well see the Snake Oil Salesman, Farage as PM.
.
In an interview after the 2024 election Bloomberg put to Farage. The Institute for Fiscal Studies had found that Reform’s economic plans were off by “tens of billions of pounds”. He responded to the accusation by saying, “I fully accept the point you’re making”, but “we weren’t going to win the last election”, so the promises made in the election were just “to set out our vision broadly of where we want to go”. Translation: we were never going to be in charge anyway, so it didn’t matter that we were telling people we could do the impossible.

2. Gazzablack , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 07:18:

2, sparkless
.
That's uncanny, you've just described Labour

3. Sparky , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 08:38:

2 G. It’s uncanny. I’ve also described Brexit.
.
We’re around 4 years away from the next election. If Reform hold onto the lead in the polls, they will need to be much more serious about spending commitments. But if he has Cummings as an advisor they’ll be some catchy empty slogans. And maybe some more eye tests!

4. NH , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 09:13:

1. Sp.
Labour's Economic plans were off by "tens of billions of pounds". In their first budget they increased taxes by £40 Billion which they did not mention before the election. After less than 1 year in government the IMF has already warned Rachel Reeves that her spending plans are out of control. While this is happening the rest of the Labour party are demanding more spending. No opposing party can predict what the state of the economy will be in 4 years time.
.
One sided criticism is pointless. If you want to criticise a political party you need to compare them with the opposing parties because it's this that will decide if they are elected.

5. Gazzablack , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 11:48:

4, sparkless
.
In that case he.can organise an eye test for you if you think it looks like Brexit.

6. Sparky , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 12:13:

5 NH. This is a one sided piece about NF.
.
6 G. You don’t need an eye test, just take the blinkers off

7. KB , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 12:50:

All employees in France are on a final-salary pension scheme which pays out 75% of your final salary as state pension (provided you have the number of contribution years).
It's mostly "unfunded", that is, most of it is paid out of ongoing social security contributions.
They also live longer than us and many unions have deals allowing early retirement on full pension.
I was amazed there are any jobs whatsoever in France, when I saw that the employer social security contribution is 50% of salary.
Yet they keep telling us our pensions in the UK are "unsustainable" !

8. gazzablack , Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 13:39:

7, sparkles
.
Says Mr. Magoo

Add comment:

Please note: Your email address is never published unless you choose to enter it.