On R4 this morning he was described as the likely next French president - and he’s been interviewed quite a bit while visiting his friend Farage. Any thoughts about Bardella?
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My entirely personal and biased view: Dreadful sockpuppet with a bad case of the Dunning-Krugers. Was some Le Pen family member’s squeeze, possibly still is. Easy to manipulate I suppose. University drop out which, especially nowadays, argues he doesn’t have much drive application or reasoning ability.
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Not very high on your Christmas card list then Vero 
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His no social care for non citizens could be unwelcome for me, receiving as I am almost free health care with my ALD. But I do contribute via my mutuelle of course, which might very well be more expensive very soon. 
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Candidate for a parcel of poo 
this is an expression used by my Viet great grandmother when she disapproved of someone. As far as I know she never actually sent one.
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Another “useful idiot” to hide who’s really pulling the strings ?
It’s hard for me to know, though I’m sure others have their views, but it’s certainly possible. He could also be an opportunist who saw a gap in the market and has been able to carefully slot himself into it, while maintaining the right backing as needed.
He’s currently under investigation for various frauds involving EU funds, so might end up in the same boat (if not the same cell) as Marine Le Pen.
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Having heard Bardella speak on several occasions, I think you are crediting him with a level of competence that really doesn’t befit him. Suggesting that he foresaw an opportunity to exploit a “gap in the market” assumes a level of intention and intelligence that very much flatters him. It’s less “stroke of genius” and more “fortunate stumble in the right direction”.
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A good friend is just back from Nice where she’d been catching up with her 2 x 30-something (French) kids and their partners. Much to her horror they’re all planning to vote for him.
Oh no. Why?
Young people love him. He seems to have struck a chord. He’s very social media-savvy so he’s probably reaching them in ways that other parties aren’t.
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Very sad.
BFM just announced that he’s on there tonight at 21h, I think it’s an hour long.
This is a long but good read by Le Monde on his popularity with the youth.
It’s perhaps worth pointing out that he’s ahead with approx ⅓ of the vote (which is similar to his popularity with older members of the population). One would hope the two round system of voting would work against him, in this regard.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Times says Farage could be a mentor to Bardella after they had lunch the other day.
Is there a conflict of interest there somewhere?
Not sure what Nig could teach him. He seems to be managing fine on his own.
He seems sympa and approachable because he doesn’t appear to have much vocab, or complexity in his arguments, and he isn’t a giver of lessons (unlike eg Macron who does like giving lessons and antagonises the RN and LFI electorate by using words many of them don’t understand) and he’s a great one for playing the underdog, misunderstood and disliked because he is young innit. I imagine he plays well to all the disaffected youth who feel hard done by because they aren’t successful and blame someone else for it.
But it’s also because, well, look at the populist alternatives, Melenchon is a ghastly old windbag, repulsive. Who is there for the populists? The RN also have a good track record when it comes to getting their voters out and into the isoloir compared to many other parties (I’ve seen them driving around in a minibus picking them up in my commune) and it will be apathy on the part of other voters which gets them in, if they get in.
I’d like Édouard Philippe to be the next president personally but I think the current situation is so fractured that anything could happen.
Edited to add Manuel Bompard seems ok, even if he is LFI.
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It’ll be interesting to see where this one goes.
The RN continually attack the EU while at the same time continually misappropriating EU funds to misuse for domestic political purposes.
Totally with you on Edouard Philippe. As an immigrant with only a tenuous grasp on French politics I can only go on my gut instincts (the man impresses me ) but this is supported by the opinions of my well educated, knowledgeable French friends who seem to universally hold him in high regard.
Unfortunately, as the result of the creation of the most damaging invention known to mankind i.e. the internet, well educated and knowledgeable opinions do not hold sway.
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I thought he was good as Prime Minister. He’d be infinitely better as President than Bardella, that’s for sure.
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