“We all have one thing in common, and it is that we are fans of her,” one of her top lieutenants recently said.
Bardella is first in line to replace Le Pen as the far right’s presidential candidate, but many have voiced doubts over his ability to take over the mantle from his mentor and unite a party devoted to the Le Pen family.
Bardella can hardly boast the same political career and gravitas. Recent missteps, such as a failed trip to Washington D.C. for the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and his lack of experience with the high pressure marathon of a presidential bid will come into the spotlight should he throw his hat into the ring to be president.
So far, Bardella’s success has often been put down to his proximity to the successful Le Pen ― his slickness and youth contrasting with her more somber personality and experience. On his own, many observers doubt he would be able to differentiate himself from other, more mainstream right-wing candidates, such as Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Eric Ciotti.
Retailleau may be tempted to break away from government in order to turbocharge his candidacy and woo Le Pen voters before they think about switching to her successor. This could be the case particularly if Le Pen’s engages in a drawn-out battle to clear her name.
In an Ifop poll published Sunday, Bardella lands similar vote shares than Le Pen for the 2027 presidential election’s first round, but performs slightly below his mentor in a hypothetical runoff against a centrist candidate.
