Re-elected 98.98%, Jordan Bardella leads the RN in the Marine Le Pen orbit

Jordan Bardella was re-elected President of the National Rally on Saturday, October 24, 2026 in Orléans, with 98.98% of the vote. Public Sénat, Ouest-France and RTL agree on this renewal without competing candidature. The result reinforces the outgoing president, without changing the presidential objective that he himself assigns to the party: "lead Marine Le Pen to the Elysée". [S2] [S7] [S21]

Massive support, but without an electoral alternative

According to the results announced by Yoann Gillet, responsible for organizing the congress, Bardella won 75,497 votes, compared with 779 blank ballots. The electronic vote was held from September 21 to October 22, before the results were announced. Voters should not be confused with those present in the Zenith, estimated at 4,000 by the Public Senate. [S7] [S2] [S23]

The score measures approval among voters, not support from all French members or voters. The rules published by the RN require, inter alia, the sponsorship of at least 20% of the members of the enlarged National Council to run for the presidency. This condition governs access to competition; it is not enough to explain why no one has faced the exit. [S7] [S23]

Public Senate also reports the unanimous adoption of the moral report and the accounts, by green or red cards, without the possibility of abstention in the device presented. However, an activist interviewed sees this as a way of giving her opinion. This public vote must be distinguished from the presidential electronic vote, which the party announces guarantees confidentiality. [S2] [S23]

The party president is not the candidate for the Elysée

Mediapart analyses this re-election as that of a "custodial" president, reduced to the role of Lieutenant of Marine Le Pen. This formula expresses a reading of the balance of forces, not an institutional rule. The converging fact is more precise: Bardella claims the mobilization for Le Pen, while L Matignon remains a political scenario, not a post acquired by this internal vote. [S1] [S3] [S7]

The overhaul also shows that Bardella retains an action capacity. Public Sénat noted the entry into the national office of its Chief of Staff François Paradol, its economic adviser Charles-Henri Gallois and Thibaut François. The official communiqué confirms their presence in the proposed composition of the National Council. Ouest-France also reports that it used its quota of appointments to the Conseil national to bring several relatives. [S2] [S7] [S24]

In the more tight executive office, Public Sénat describes a balance between the president's relatives, Alexandre Loubet and Gaëtan Dussaussaye, and officials identified as "marinists", Jean-Philippe Tanguy and Bruno Bilde. The latter returned after his eviction in 2022. Gilles Pennelle, Sébastien Chenu and Jean-Paul Garraud left the executive but were still in the national office: their departure was not an exclusion from management. [S2] [S24]

The responsibilities are partially specified: Hélène Laporte is responsible for the national commission of nomination, Edwige Diaz for formation and Bruno Bilde for legal affairs. However, the RN announces that the composition of the nomination board and the operational organization will be detailed at a later stage. Therefore, the published organizational chart does not yet describe the entire decision chain. [S24]

Charges not settled by ballot

This unit intervenes while Mediapart assigns Bardella anti-Semitic writings. The President of the RN contests these accusations; Blick reports that he filed a defamation complaint. In the rostrum, he praised the militant solidarity with what he presented as unjust attacks. Neither his re-election nor the support of the leaders made it possible to determine the reality of the disputed facts. [S1] [S15] [S20]

In Orleans, demonstrate and secure without confusing responsibilities

On the sidelines of the congress, the protest against the far right spread in calm, according to several media. South West and franceinfo report 13,000 participants according to the authorities and 26,000 according to the organizers; Euronews mentions 11,000 according to the prefecture. This difference is not explained in the items consulted. Publications converge on the absence of clashes in the procession. [S6] [S19] [S13]

Mayor Serge Grouard invokes the prevention of disturbances to impose a communal curfew on children under 15 years of age, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the nights of 24 and 25 October. Parental support or by a qualified adult allows travel. The restriction therefore also affects young people unrelated to gatherings; the available information does not establish its effectiveness. [S22]

At the entrance of the congress, franceinfo also reports checks on the wearing of a bra to prevent the intrusion of women activists, according to a journalist from France Inter confirming L的Express. These controls affect the privacy of participants. The safety objective reported does not alone demonstrate the necessity or proportionality of this method. [S19]