Marine Le Pen courts France’s elite, rattling the far right’s old guard

It is stirring tensions inside her party as it edges closer than ever to the presidency. Read more at straitstimes.com.

PARIS – Marine Le Pen’s push to make France’s far right palatable to the country’s corporate and old-money elite is stirring tensions inside her party as it edges closer than ever to the presidency.

A new circle of advisers with elite pedigrees is asserting influence, adopting what some National Rally officials describe as a “know-it-all” style that grates on the old guard.

Courting high society risks alienating the base who fuelled the party’s rise and that has long been wary of financiers and high-powered networks, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The internal friction comes at a pivotal moment, with the party leading polls roughly a year before the next presidential election, and just as France heads into its two-round municipal vote on March 15 and March 22 – an early test of the party’s electability.

Despite a ban that prevents Le Pen from running in 2027 over a conviction for misusing European Union funds – a ruling she is appealing – the National Rally remains France’s strongest political force in surveys.

Even with the largely untested 30-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella as a potential stand-in, the party still tops polls.