Jordan Bardella re-elected leader of the National Rally with 98.98% of the vote

Bardella re-elected as sole candidate

Jordan Bardella has been re-elected chairman of the National Rally party (Rassemblement national, RN) with 98.98% of the vote. He was the only candidate in the vote, the results of which were announced on Saturday, the first day of the party's two-day congress in Orléans. According to deputy Yoann Gillet, who was in charge of organising the vote, Bardella received 75,497 votes with 779 blank ballots; turnout was almost 68%. Electronic voting was open to party members from 21 September to 22 October.

A 'winning duo' and the launch of Le Pen's campaign

Even before the results were officially announced, Bardella thanked supporters and called on them to back Marine Le Pen's presidential ambitions: 'Once again I will need your help to bring Marine Le Pen to the Élysée Palace'. The re-election cements the division of roles in the duo that the party presents as a 'winning tandem' for the 2027 elections: Le Pen is running for president, while Bardella positions himself as a potential prime minister should the RN win the parliamentary elections. On Sunday, the second day of the congress, Le Pen is due to speak before thousands of activists and, according to her entourage, deliver a 'high-level speech' on the theme of 'renewal', setting out her vision six months before the presidential election.

Counter-demonstration and political context

The congress was accompanied by a counter-demonstration in Orléans, which took place on Saturday at midday without incident. According to the prefecture, about 11,000 people took part in the march; organisers put the figure at 26,000, although the authorities had earlier expected up to 30,000. Among the participants were well-known left-wing politicians, including the mayor of Saint-Denis and La France Insoumise figure Bastien Lachaud — no, Mathilde Panot — rather, the mayor of Saint-Denis and La France Insoumise figure Balla Bagayoko. Socialist Party first secretary Olivier Faure accused the RN of creating an 'oppressive, racist and xenophobic climate', while CGT union leader Sophie Binet said that 'workers have no more dangerous enemy than the far right'. Euronews notes that the scale of mobilisation was lower than at the protests against the National Front congress in Strasbourg in March 1997, which drew more than 50,000 people, but the action is taking place against a backdrop of tension in France after the 'second act' of social mobilisation and serious outbreaks of violence a week earlier.

Policy groundwork ahead of the elections

The congress is intended to demonstrate party unity and present its programme. The RN has already begun unveiling its economic and social priorities: two weeks earlier the party presented an alternative budget countering the government's fiscal proposals, and on 14 September in Hénin-Beaumont, Le Pen put housing and the cost of living at the top of her agenda. Sunday's speech is expected to round out the party's strategy in its drive to turn electoral support into victory in the 2027 presidential election.

Why it matters

Bardella's re-election and the launch of Le Pen's campaign formally open the RN's election cycle six months before the 2027 presidential election, cementing the 'Le Pen for president, Bardella for prime minister' formula that the party has already publicly offered to voters. For French politics, this means that the RN's alternative budget and the previously announced housing and cost-of-living priorities will form the basis of the campaign platform with which the party will enter the race. At the same time, the peaceful but large protest in Orléans shows that the RN's rise is accompanied by noticeable resistance from left-wing forces and trade unions, setting the tone for the entire campaign.