Forced to wait his turn, Marine Le Pen's deputy Bardella returns to the shadows

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Many noted Bardella's muted enthusiasm when he appeared this week alongside Marine Le Pen By Laura Gozzi Published 6 July 2026 Updated 1 hour ago A stern-looking Jordan Bardella squinted in the sun as a reporter asked him whether he was relieved or disappointed that he would not be the 2027 presidential candidate for the National Rally (RN). "Neither," he said in a flat voice during a campaign event in the village of La Flèche. "I am glad Marine can represent us. We will work together hand in hand like we've always done." The previous evening his mentor Marine Le Pen announced she would run for the presidency next year, and not him. In the space of 20 minutes on primetime TV on Tuesday, she put an end to the prospect of handing the party's candidacy to her protege. Thirty-year-old Bardella has had a dizzying career up the RN ranks, but he was always measured about his prospects of becoming president. "I want Marine to be the candidate," he had said repeatedly, making it clear he would stand only if an appeal court confirmed she was barred from running for office over a fake jobs scam. But as party president he had been growing into the role of stand-in candidate - even going on a statesman-like visit to Poland last month. As the date of Le Pen's appeal verdict drew near he appeared increasingly excited to launch his own presidential campaign. Instead, on Tuesday, a Paris court ended her ban on holding public office and said she should wear an electronic tag for a year. That evening Le Pen announced she and Bardella would run together as "a winning ticket". She would be president, and he prime minister. But that is not how France's political system works. France's next parliamentary election is not due until 2029. It is possible a victorious Le Pen could trigger a snap election soon after taking up the post of president and make Bardella prime minister - but there is no guarantee this might happen quickly. So Bardella is left waiting. Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, Last month, Bardella took part in a visit to Poland, meeting party allies and touring the eastern border Many National Rally supporters will be relieved Le Pen is running instead. She has made politics her life, has already run three presidential campaigns, and her decision has boosted her lead in the polls. Bardella's age and lack of experience, many feared, would have come under close scrutiny and could have become a liability. Still, Bardella's body language at Wednesday's campaign event in the north-west was telling. While Le Pen beamed at the cameras, brushing off suggestions her deputy would mind being sidelined and insisting "our personal ambitions are absolutely irrelevant", he barely reacted and scarcely smiled. The speedy climb in National Rally ranks that has characterised his political career seems to have stalled. Had he been allowed to run, with his party's sizeable lead in the polls and his own strong approval