BIRMINGHAM, England — Britain’s Nigel Farage plans to visit France by the end of October to meet Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right National Rally (RN), according to an official with the Reform UK party. Farage intends to make the reciprocal visit after he invited Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s successor as RN leader, to his party conference in Birmingham on Friday. The pair joined each other on stage to sign a meter-high agreement to deport all migrants who cross the Channel illegally back to France, though the finer details are yet to be fleshed out.
RN is due to hold its own party conference on Oct. 24-25 in Orléans, near Paris. The official quoted above, who was granted anonymity to discuss the plans, did not confirm whether Farage’s return visit would involve attending this conference. The official added that Farage plans a series of other visits to leaders on the European right before the end of 2026.
Farage has had a long association with Marine Le Pen and interviewed her for his radio show in 2017. He said Friday that while he would not have struck a deal with the National Front founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, her rechristened party had moved away from “extreme elements.” The relationship has not always been so harmonious. Farage said in 2024 that RN’s economic policies would be a “disaster” for France and “even worse for the economy than the current lot.” However, the two parties have forged closer links over their hard line on immigration issues.
Le Pen is the favorite in the first round of voting in France’s 2027 presidential election, while POLITICO’s Poll of Polls now has Farage’s Reform UK one percentage point behind the ruling Labour Party ahead of the next general election, due by 2029. Farage alluded to a return visit from the conference stage in Birmingham after Bardella’s speech, which he gave in English — a rare move for him in public. Farage said: “The only downside is I think they’re going to invite me to go to Paris and I’ll have to speak in French, but never mind, we’ll get there.”
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