The far-right National Rally Party’s Jordan Bardella is set to host a joint press conference with Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage on Friday afternoon, as the party’s annual conference kicks off in Birmingham.
Speaking to Euronews, a National Rally spokesperson said the pair are set to discuss illegal migration, as well as joint cooperation between the UK and France targeting small boat crossings, a day after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed how to “scale up” efforts to tackle illegal crossings and strengthen the UK’s relationship with Europe.
The 30-year old firebrand was once seen as the National Rally’s most likely candidate for France’s 2027 Presidential elections. He is now operating on a joint ticket with Marine Le Pen, campaigning to be her Prime Minister.
Despite this united front, policy disagreements have emerged between Bardella and Le Pen, notably on the topic of pensions and rules related to the hijab in France.
He has described France’s current pension system as “unsustainable”, while also attempting to defuse the controversy around Le Pen’s proposed hijab ban in public spaces. Bardella told reporters on Monday that the goal was not to “enforce a dress code”, emphasising that a referendum would be held on the matter.
The leader of the Patriots group in the European Parliament also appears to be presenting himself as candidate with a more market friendly approach than Le Pen, who has typically backed protectionist measures.
These divides have fuelled speculation about what is going on behind the scenes, as Bardella has been increasingly present on an international level. After his trip to Birmingham, he will travel to Cernobbio in Italy, to take part in the Ambrosetti Forum, an annual economic and geopolitical conference on Saturday.
Farage and Bardella also met in December last year at a private members’ club in London. But despite their shared eurosceptic views, Farage has not always had a smooth relationship with the National Rally Party — or with Le Pen.
In 2014, Le Pen accused Farage of “aggression” against her party, after he refused to form an alliance with the National Rally party (which at the time was known as the National Front) in the European Parliament due to their “anti-Semitism and general prejudice.”
Since launching her 2027 presidential bid, Le Pen has maintained a strong eurosceptic stance, telling business leaders last week that there was “no reason” for France’s contributions to the bloc — which reached nearly €29 billion for 2026 — to exceed €5 billion.
She also favoured getting rid of thousands of European norms, “every time the European Union sets a minimum norm, we go above and beyond — we want to be the top student in the class.”
A meeting clouded by a new scandal for Reform
On Friday, hours before Reform’s conference was set to begin, Farage’s Reform UK was reported to the Metropolitan Police and the Electoral Commission over illegal donations.
This followed an undercover investigation aired by British broadcaster Channel 4 News, in which an investigative group called Verbatim posed as a wealthy American financier and his UK-based son. Under UK law, donations from foreign investors are illegal.
Reform has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the report as “a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors,” insisting the party has “a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission”.
Nigel Farage has also been seeking to draw a line under a damaging row over a £5 million (€5.8 million) “gift” donation he received from British crypto-currency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
According to Farage, the money — which is being probed by parliament’s sleaze watchdog — was for his security. He says it was received before he was elected as an MP and therefore did not need to be declared to parliamentary authorities.
Reform enjoyed significant success in May’s local elections and until late July, the party had led Labour in the polls for more than a year, but has since slipped behind.
Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen and her party have also been fighting their own legal battles.
In July, the Paris Court of Appeals adjusted, but ultimately upheld, Le Pen’s conviction for embezzling EU funds, sentencing her to one year of imprisonment to be served under electronic monitoring and 45 months of ineligibility to hold public office, 30 of which are suspended. The court also ruled that she could run in the 2027 presidential election.
Following the ruling, Le Pen announced her decision to run as a presidential candidate, while also declaring she would lodge an appeal with the court of cassation, France’s highest court, to challenge her convictions.