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France's National Rally reelects Bardella as party president with 98.98% of vote at Orléans congress
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France's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) held its 19th congress in Orléans on October 24, 2026, where Jordan Bardella was confirmed as party president with 98.98% of the vote, running unopposed. The result surpassed Marine Le Pen's previous reelection scores of 97.1% in 2017 and 98.35% in 2021. The congress, described by the party as a 'moment of democratic breathing,' also renewed a third of the executive bureau, the party's sole decision-making body, though the process was conducted with little transparency. The event preceded a major rally and was characterized by high tension, with Bardella needing to acknowledge 'Marinists' within the party. The article notes that the leadership has accumulated electoral successes since 2022 while abandoning earlier promises to build local presence and develop programmatic ideas.
Source report
Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National (RN), at the party congress in Orléans, October 24, 2026. ADRIENNE SURPRENANT FOR "LE MONDE"
What is a political party whose president is reelected unanimously and whose main governing bodies are reshuffled in the greatest secrecy? "A moment of democratic breathing room," according to the Rassemblement National (RN). The far-right party devoted its 19th congress, held on October 24 in Orléans (Loiret), on the eve of a major rally, to the – relative – renewal of its institutions.
The stakes that Saturday appeared minimal, with Jordan Bardella running alone for the head of the movement. The only uncertainty hung over the composition of the executive bureau ("BE"), the sole decision-making body of the party of the flame.
After the proclamation of the score obtained by the outgoing president (98.98%), even more flattering than the last plebiscites of this kind recorded by Marine Le Pen in 2017 (97.1%) and 2021 (98.35%), the thirty-something put to a vote of the national bureau (yet another formality) a composition of the "BE" with one-third of its members reshuffled. Officially, Mr. Bardella finds nothing to criticize in the leadership that, since 2022, has supported his personal rise and racked up electoral successes (legislative, municipal and senatorial elections) – without regard for the grand promises quickly abandoned (establishing territorial roots, training its executives and activists, developing programmatic ideas and concepts).
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Source
Politique : Toute l’actualité sur Le Monde.fr.Western