No more radicalism of the National Unity? Bardella Bets on mediate Class and Specifics

Jordan Bardella, the current president of the National Unity (Rassemblement National), is constantly working on transforming a organization that erstwhile was identified solely with populism, anti-immigration rhetoric and utmost Euroscepticism.

In August, Bardella accelerated the ideological transformation of the group, focusing on modernising the image and moving RN towards the economical center. The economical centre is simply a average approach to economics, combining the free marketplace with the work of the state – it promotes entrepreneurship but does not quit intervention where it is needed. This is not only a political move, but besides a strategical one: an effort to take over the average right-wing electorate and middle-class electorate, which has lost assurance in conventional parties in fresh years, but is not entirely found in the harsh course of the erstwhile National Front.

Since the beginning of his tenure as RN Bardell's leader, he stressed that the party's goal was not to persist in the political extremes ghetto, but to gain real governance. This is why his actions over the past weeks focus on signals sent to entrepreneurs, private sector workers and people who, although culturally conservative, do not necessarily identify with economical protectionism or state interventionism. In August, Bardella repeatedly made statements in which he sought to convince the RN of the business environment, presenting the organization as a group of modern, predictable and able to exercise power within the institution of the Republic.

The transmission wasn't random. The upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in France force the RN leader to go beyond the current limits of influence. While the agrarian electorate, working and skeptical towards immigration continues to be the backbone of the group's support, without gaining the assurance of educated urban middle-class voters, Bardella has no chance of forming a government on her own or of truly leading the coalition. In this context, it is worth noting that his most fresh statements and projects are addressed to this group: people working, doing business, curious in a unchangeable legal environment and lower taxes.

In August, Bardella stressed the request to relieve companies that he felt were inactive struggling with excessive fiscal burden. 1 of his main economical demands is the abolition of 2 taxes: CSR (Contribution Sociale de Solidarité des Sociétés) and CVAE (Cotation sur la Valeur Ajutée des Entreprises). Both burdens have long been criticised by the economical environment as inhibiting investment and overburdening peculiarly tiny and medium-sized enterprises. The proposal for their liquidation was presented by Bardella as part of a broader improvement aimed at expanding the competitiveness of French companies in the European and global markets.

However, Bardella is not limited to abolishing taxes alone. Its narration increasingly includes the slogans of modernising the economy, simplifying regulations, combating bureaucracy and promoting work. The concept of linking social benefits to the work to act is peculiarly important. The most medial and controversial request of August was that the payment of RSA (French equivalent of minimum income) should be subject to minimum 15 hours of activity per week. This could mean social work, training, volunteering or another forms of activation.

This thought faced a clear division of public opinion. Bardella supporters considered this a reasonable compromise between social solidarity and civic responsibility. Critics (especially from the left) read the proposal as an attack on the most vulnerable. However, Bardella consistently maintains that the social state cannot be a passive redistribution system, but a mechanics that mobilises people to participate in social and professional life.

Nor does Jordan Bardell mention to the model of work as the foundation of the republic. His rhetoric clearly shows an effort to reconstruct the ethos of work as an component of national and social identity. Work not only as a origin of income, but as a form of participation in the life of the community, a tool of self-fulfillment and a contribution to the common good. specified communicative speaks to both entrepreneurs and people with a more conservative worldview, for whom the thought of work and effort has superior value.

At the same time, it is worth noting that classical populism is little and little in this Bardella strategy. In his August speeches, references to the “elite” or “traitors of the nation” seldom appear. Instead, the language of professionalism, efficiency and work dominates. This is an effort to show that RN under his leadership can be more than a organization to the protest – that it can be a real alternate to technocratic governments and the weak left.

In the background of this change, of course, the issue of migration is inactive present, but increasingly little exposed. Bardella does not quit on the topics that attracted millions of voters to the RN – but present she talks about them differently. Not as a cultural or civilisational threat, but as a problem that affects the labour market, it burdens social assistance systems and complicates economical integration. It's a more accessible language for centrists, little emotional, more technocratic.

All of this has 1 goal: to break political isolation. The RN has functioned for years as a force excluded from coalition systems. Even erstwhile she gained good results in the election, she remained outside the real impact zone. present Bardella is doing everything she can to change this paradigm. Hence his concern for the image of the organization as responsible, ready to regulation and open to alliances.

August 2025 brought confirmation of this strategy. The deficiency of participation of the RN in the protests of the Bloquons tout movement, which partially paralyzed transport and public administration, was a clear signal: the organization does not want to be identified with the street revolution. Bloquons tout means "Let's block everything". This is the slogan of the civilian protest, which called for the country to paralyze in consequence to rising costs of surviving and unpopular government decisions. The RN wants to be a strategy formation. In the eyes of many voters to date, this may be a betrayal of the opposition spirit, but to Bardella it is an investment in credibility.

Will this course pay off? This question will be answered by the coming months and elections. The fact is that Bardella consistently and methodically builds a fresh RN image – as a modern, efficient and manageable party. If he succeeds, he can not only enter the government, but completely transform the French political scene. If it fails – RN will return to the function of the organization permanently protesting, from which at its own request the only truly harsh slogans that distinguished it were removed. Bardella plays high, but with calculations. He knows that the future of the French right is no longer solely in emotion, but in a program offer that speaks to those who run businesses daily, pay taxes and anticipate the state not to disturb them.

As far as poll listings are concerned, Rassemblement National holds a position of leadership with about 35% in the parliamentary election. In presidential forecasts, Jordan Bardella gains from 31 to 36% in the first round, and in the second – depending on the opponent – his score oscillates around 48–50%, meaning he is simply a viable candidate for victory.