Marine Le Pen’s run for the French presidency is not good news for opponents of the National Rally.
According to several centrist and left-wing members of the European Parliament contacted by Euronews, the veteran French far-right leader will have more appeal to voters than Jordan Bardella, the young MEP whom many expected to replace her as RN’s candidate should she have been deemed ineligible to run.
After Le Pen announced her intention to run in France’s 2027 presidential election despite her fraud conviction, with Bardella positioned as a candidate for the prime minister’s office, many in France have wondered whether it might not have been better to hand over the baton completely.
But despite polls suggesting that Bardella would have broader support in the first round of a presidential election, lawmakers in Brussels have no doubt: Le Pen has a better chance of becoming president.
“French voters are not looking for an adventure with a young candidate; they want to be reassured,” MEP Sandro Gozi from the centrist Democratic Movement told Euronews. His view is that Le Pen is better placed to play to people’s needs and fears, such as war, energy concerns, and declining purchasing power.
