National Rally

The National Rally (French: Rassemblement national or RN) is a far right political party in France. It used to be called the National Front until 2018.

The party is patriotic. The party is very Eurosceptic (meaning they are against the European Union) and wants to limit immigration. Marine Le Pen supports letting the government control health, education, transportation, banking and energy. Critics say that the ideology of the RN focuses on bad attitudes on immigrants.

History
The party was founded on 5 October 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen. The party was first called the National Front for French Unity (Front national pour l'unité française). Their most successful performance in the legislative elections was in 1997, where they received 14.9% of the vote in the 1st round and 5.7% in the 2nd round. Recently, they won the 2014 European Parliament election with 24.85% of the vote.

Only on three occasions has an FN / RN candidate advanced to the second round of the french presidential elections, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002 and his daughter Marine Le Pen in 2017, (again in 2022). Jean-Marie Le Pen heavily lost the second round, as he only received 17.8% of the vote; Marine Le Pen also lost the second round, only receiving 33.9% of the vote.

Jean-Marie Le Pen was leader of the party from 1972 until 2011. In 2011, the party voted to make Marine Le Pen leader. She wanted to soften the party's image. Marine Le Pen expelled her father from the party in 2015 after he made some controversial statements. On 24 April 2017, a day after the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen stepped down from her position. Steeve Briois became the temporary leader. Le Pen then returned as leader after she lost the 2017 election. She resigned again in 2021 because she ran for president of France again in 2022. Jordan Bardella became acting leader and was then elected party president in 2022.

On 31 March 2025, 25 National Rally members (including Le Pen, former MEPs, and their assistants) were convicted of embezzlement for using European Parliament funds to fund National Rally staff.  The sentences for several MEPs, including Le Pen, included bans on running for political office.

Party presidents
NoPresident1120pxJean-Marie Le Pen5 October 197215 January 2011Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the National Front for French Unity party in 1972 and contested the Presidency of France in 1974, 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. He served several terms as a deputy of the National Assembly of France and a Member of the European Parliament. He later served as the party's honorary president from January 2011 to August 2015. He died on 7 January 2025 at the age of 96.2120pxMarine Le Pen15 January 20115 November 2022Marine Le Pen took over as the president of the party in 2011 and contested the 2012, 2017 and 2022 French presidential elections. She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 and has served as a deputy of the National Assembly of France since 2017. Under her leadership, the party was renamed National Rally in 2018.3120pxJordan Bardella5 November 2022Acting since 13 September 2021IncumbentJordan Bardella became acting president of the party after Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign in September 2021. He was elected president in November 2022.

Notes

 References 

 Other websites 
 Official website 
 FNinfos, the official website of National Front activists 
 Nations Presse Info, an information Website near the National Front
 Has Marine Le Pen made France's Front National respectable? RFI English
 Marine Le Pen's Protectionist Economics and Social Conservatism

Category:National Rally
Category:1972 establishments in France