French presidential frontrunner Jordan Bardella has thrown his weight behind Nigel Farage and a new cross-Channel national-conservative alliance, telling the Daily Telegraph that the Reform UK leader is on course to become Britain’s next prime minister and that the two men could “restore Europe’s borders” together.
The 30-year-old president of France’s Rassemblement National (RN) confirmed that he and Farage met privately over lunch in London this week—their first ever face-to-face encounter—as both prepare for possible bids for power. Bardella is widely tipped to stand in France’s 2027 presidential election, while Farage’s party is leading the polls in Britain.
“I think Farage will be the next prime minister,” Bardella said in the interview, praising him as a “pioneer” who fought for Britain’s independence and sovereignty. The meeting marks a dramatic thaw after Farage long refused to engage with Marine Le Pen because of the RN’s antisemitic past.
Bardella said that era is over, pointing to his own visit to Israel and claiming the RN is now viewed by many French Jews as protection against radical Islam. He also brushed aside allegations about antisemitic remarks attributed to Farage as a teenager, describing the timing as politically suspicious.
Migration was the centrepiece of their talks. Bardella tore into the Franco-British small boats deal agreed by Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, calling it a “smokescreen” that papers over a system “leaking from all sides”. If elected, he said he would call a referendum to rip immigration and security powers back from Brussels and impose a hard national border regime.
His plan would see asylum processed outside France, automatic deportation of foreign criminals, and strict national preference for housing and welfare. “My ambition is to make France the least attractive country for mass immigration in Europe,” he said, arguing that stopping crossings on the French side would choke off routes into Britain.
Bardella also attacked EU border agency Frontex and self-styled NGO ‘rescue’ operations as a “taxi service” for illegal migration. He backed pushbacks, even on British shores, as long as they are applied consistently.
At the EU level, Bardella said he wants to unite Europe’s nationalist parties across different parliamentary blocs—including Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s camp—to force a radical restructuring of the Union into a loose alliance of sovereign states with a weaker Commission.
At home, Bardella’s own rise still depends on Marine Le Pen’s legal fate. She faces a possible five-year electoral ban over an EU funding case. If it is upheld, Bardella would become the RN’s presidential candidate. If not, he says he will step aside for her, insisting the party is being targeted by politicised judges in a campaign of “lawfare.”
On Ukraine, Bardella condemned Russia’s invasion but warned against putting French troops anywhere near the battlefield. He rejected any peace deal that would hand Ukrainian territory to Moscow and accused Washington of caring more about China than Europe’s security.
Bardella also rejected claims that the RN has simply swapped antisemitism for anti-Muslim politics. He said he opposes political Islam, not faith, but warned that France risks losing its identity without urgent political change, stating
You can change a tax in 24 hours. But a country’s identity, once broken, can be lost forever.
