05/16/2024

This 28-year-old Is the New Face of Europe’s Far Right

Jordan Bardella is now a leading member of the National Rally Party

Inside the well-secured Paris headquarters of France's far-right National Rally party, an oversized poster in the stairwell shows two figures, their arms raised in triumph and smiling broadly. One is easily recognizable: Marine Le Pen, whose family has defined France’s virulently nationalist group for decades. The other is a tall, young man in a dark suit: Jordan Bardella. "THE TIME HAS COME," the slogan reads.

At 28, Bardella's time might well have come—with major implications for France's future, and Europe's too. He was handpicked by Le Pen in 2022 as president of the party and her likely successor as leader. For months, Bardella has barnstormed across France as Le Pen's lead candidate for the European Union's parliamentary elections on June 9, when about 400 million voters in the 27 E.U. countries will choose representatives to the bloc's legislature for a five-year term—a vote that could have far-reaching impacts on issues ranging from Russian sanctions to immigration. With a win, Bardella, who already represents National Rally in the European Parliament, will likely still be part of a minority faction in Brussels, since its 720 members come from all 27 member countries. But Bardella's rise mirrors a steady rightward trend that could come to radically reshape politics in his country.

"My generation of patriotic activists is a generation that will govern, which was not the case 10, 20, or 30 years ago," he tells TIME, sitting in the party headquarters one rainy afternoon. "We will not only become winners in the European elections, but we can also win the next presidential election. So that totally changes the future."

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