The controversial guest who could blow up Farage’s Reform strategy

On paper, it looks like a wise choice. Reform UK is currently six points down in the polls compared to this time last year, and spent the summer dealing with all manners of murky scandals. Their annual conference in Birmingham, taking place this week, is their biggest yet, and ought to be treated as a bright, fresh start. What better way to do this than to host a glitzy, international political figure as their guest of honour? On Friday, Rassemblement National president Jordan Bardella will be addressing Reform’s gathering. The 30-year-old’s rise through his party’s ranks was vertiginous and, though he now acts as Marine Le Pen’s right-hand man, he recently stood ready to represent the far right next April, during France’s next presidential election. If the future of the European populist right has a face, it’s his, and clearly Reform is hoping to strengthen the party’s links with its friends from across the Channel. The only question, really, is whether Nigel Farage and his associates really made the right call, and may not find themselves soon regretting their decision. Back in the days of Ukip and the Brexit Party, Farage always managed to wink and flirt with the far right while never committing to join them. While the occasional dog-whistle was to be expected, he managed to walk the fine line between the mainstream and the fringes without faltering. What this meant in practise is that he was always able to reap the rewards of having a foot in both camps – electorally benefiting from pandering to the cranks, while still persona entirely grata in Westminster. For a long time, he even repudiated the artists formerly known as the Front National, telling The Daily Telegraph in 2013 that “whilst we admire the way Marine Le Pen has tried to change the Front National, we feel that antisemitism and general prejudice remains in the DNA of the party. For that reason we will not be doing a deal with the French National Front. That will not change. It is a principle.” Predictably, that principle died the moment it stopped being convenient. In 2017, he met up with her and endorsed her for the presidential election she eventually lost to Emmanuel Macron. At the time, he argued that her party’s focus was now on “sovereignty, not race”. Still, two years later, the Brexit Party decided, after some dilly-dallying, not to join the RN’s group in the European Parliament. President of French far-right Rassemblement National Jordan Bardella. ‘If the future of the European populist right has a face, it’s his, writes Marie Le Conte (Photo: Sameer al-Doumy/AFP) This seems especially relevant today, considering where the French far-right party has ended up in Brussels. Aside from his duties in Paris, MEP Bardella chairs Patriots for Europe, a grouping of bracingly right-wing parties. Among them are Greece’s Voice of Reason, who are anti gay marriage and pro death penalty, and Poland’s National Movement, an ultra-nationalist, neo-fascist party. Other members include Hungary’s Fidesz, whose authoritarian grip on power finally loosened last year, and Geert Wilders’ PVV party, which has been haunting the Netherlands for two decades. By welcoming the French far right into its bosom, Reform is choosing to get closer to an entire continent’s worth of unsavoury figures. They may feel it is worth it right now, but it just isn’t clear that this repositioning really can help them in the long run. Rupert Lowe’s ghoulish Restore party will always manage to outflank them on the far-right, and the Conservatives’ hapless leadership means that there are more votes to cannibalise on the more mainstream right-wing instead. Another pragmatic question to ask would be: does Reform really need to be seen cosying up to Bardella, and by extension Le Pen, at a time when nearly 60 per cent of voters believe Farage’s party to be “untrustworthy”? Marine Le Pen is about to run for president again, but she was still found guilty of misusing EU funds. Given the many – many, many – stories still swirling around Reform’s financial backers, now doesn’t really feel like the time to actively be courting Rassemblement National, even if they are political brethren. Or perhaps none of this will matter in the end. Algorithmic social media is flattening everything, and the populist right isn’t an exception. Attention is the only thing that matters, and Bardella will give Reform what it wants. Will it be what it needs? Ask again at the next election.