Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are slowly conquering France

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally – formerly the National Front – is expected to triumph for a third time running in the European elections this weekend. The party topped the poll last time, in 2019, and in 2014. But its principal candidate, five years ago and today, is not the 55-year-old Le Pen but the youthful Jordan Bardella, whose story tells us a lot about the changing nature of the French right.

The son of Italian immigrants, Bardella, 28, grew up on a housing estate in Seine-Saint-Denis, an impoverished area north of Paris. While Le Pen appeals to the middle-aged electorate, Bardella is the star attraction for younger voters. French politics is dominated by the bourgeoisie and Bardella is unusual in that he is working class. His Parisian grit broadens National Rally’s traditionally rural appeal.

The National Rally has always polled best in the provinces, especially in the de-industrialised north of France and in the south-east, where immigration troubles voters. It does less well in the big cities. That is starting to change, and Bardella – who uses TikTok to communicate with his peers – is largely responsible. Mass immigration and growing insecurity – crimes such as attempted murder and rape have all increased under Emmanuel Macron – are issues on which he has campaigned heavily.

Commentators, pollsters and politicians no longer scoff at the idea of Le Pen becoming president

The European elections may not be all that important, democratically. They are, however, a useful ‘mid-term’ barometer of how the country is feeling about its leadership. The answer, it seems, is that Macron is deeply unpopular, France is in despair and Bardella and Le Pen are the main beneficiaries. The economy is a source of great alarm, too. Macron, the ex-banker, sold himself to the electorate as a safe pair of economic hands, but the public deficit has risen to 5.5