Marine Le Pen’s first campaign appearance in western France on Wednesday revealed a key element of how she intends to attract voters who remain cautious toward her: to always have her charismatic, 30-year-old protégé by her side.

Le Pen’s strategy is based—according to Politico—on the assessment that Jordan Bardella’s appeal to young people, his communication skills, and his connections with the business elite can expand the influence of their party, the National Rally, and compensate for her own weaknesses.

After three failed attempts to reach the Élysée Palace, Le Pen is struggling to explain what will be different this time in her political platform and how she will reach voters beyond the hard-core of her electoral base. Keeping Bardella so close to her, however, could prove to be either a stroke of genius or a sign of political necessity.

Bardella has hardly strayed from Le Pen’s side since Tuesday, when the Appeals Court upheld her conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds and sentenced her to one year of house arrest. However, the court significantly reduced the duration of her ban on running for office, allowing her to be a candidate for the presidency in 2027.

Le Pen and Bardella visited the town of La Fles on Wednesday, where they shook hands, took selfies, and answered questions about their joint campaign. Le Pen appeared smiling and answered most of the questions, while Bardella, more serious, seemed to be adjusting to his new role as her “right-hand man.”

Similar scenes unfolded on Tuesday. When Le Pen traveled from the National Rally headquarters to the headquarters of the TF1 television network, Bardella was reportedly the only person in the car with her, aside from the driver.

After her prime-time interview —in which she announced her candidacy and stated that she would appeal the court’s decision, suspending her house arrest until the French Supreme Court rules on the matter— the charismatic MEP, who is a regular on TV and active on TikTok, returned with her to the party’s offices without making any statements.

The “winning duo” Le Pen–Bardella

Le Pen and Bardella have been presenting themselves as a political duo for months: she as a presidential candidate and he as the man preparing to take the post of prime minister.

In her interview on Tuesday, the 57-year-old described their partnership as “a winning duo,” “stable, strengthened by their convictions, and accustomed to working together.”

However, the idea of a joint “ticket” is not part of French political tradition. The French presidency is one of the most powerful institutions in the world, concentrating vast executive powers and sole control over foreign policy.

“The joint ticket is a concept more familiar in the United States, but I think it’s a good idea. We’ll know who could become the next prime minister. It’s healthier for our democracy,” National Rally lawmaker Philippe Balar told Politico.

He acknowledged, however, that this is not a relationship of equals. “If Marine Le Pen wins the election, they won’t have the same roles. She will have overall oversight, while he will be responsible for implementation,” he added.

The National Rally’s opponents, especially on the right, feared that if Le Pen were to drop out of the race and Bardella took her place, he could attract their voters. However, they do not view the Le Pen–Bardella duo in the same light. “We don’t vote for pairs here; we’re not the U.S.,” said a Republican adviser. “It’s a gamble. It’s a good idea for her to keep him close as a candidate, but she’ll have to agree to give him space, and I’m not sure that’s her style,” he added.

A calculated political partnership

Things could easily have turned out differently. Le Pen could have suddenly sidelined Bardella, after weeks of speculation that he would inevitably be the party’s candidate, given the slim chances of her appeal succeeding.

There were also indications that he had begun to formulate his own ideas for the party.

For Bruno Cotre, a political scientist at Sciences Po, this partnership makes clear strategic sense. “In theory, this pairing has many advantages,” he told Politico. “A man and a woman, an older and a younger person—she has a long history with the party, while he has had a meteoric rise… From a political communications standpoint, it opens up possibilities; they can appeal to different audiences.” But this is true only as long as the differences in their positions do not become too apparent, she warned.

“If they are completely at odds, we will highlight it,” said Nathalie Loiseau, a Member of the European Parliament from the center-right Horizons party.

There are, however, issues where—according to the analysis—Le Pen won’t be able to have it all. For example, she has pledged to overturn President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark pension reform, while Bardella has left open the possibility of a more flexible approach that could attract more moderate right-wing voters.

Bardella’s Other Role

Bardella is also helping to soften Le Pen’s image at a time when her legal troubles threaten to dominate the campaign.

By continuing her candidacy despite her conviction and adopting a combative stance reminiscent of U.S. President Donald Trump, Le Pen is reinforcing her party’s populist tradition.

The presence of Bardella, who projects a more conventional image, has become more necessary than ever. His “clean” image will be helpful, but it won’t be easy for the duo to overcome the legal burden of Le Pen’s conviction.

Her appeal against the conviction means she will campaign while the Supreme Court’s decision remains pending before the presidential election. At the same time, Bardella is also facing his own legal issues.

Her allies are trying to frame the conviction as a story of resilience. National Rally lawmaker Sébastien Seny compared Le Pen to Alexandre Dumas’s persecuted hero, “The Count of Monte Cristo.” “Resurrected a hundred times, freed a hundred times, and escaped a hundred times,” he said on France Inter.

Early polls seem to support this interpretation. An Ifop poll conducted after the announcement of her candidacy shows Le Pen comfortably advancing to the second round and defeating Philippe with 54%. However, for her opponents, this narrative is unlikely to convince anyone beyond her core base.

According to the same conservative advisor, Le Pen, as the leading candidate, will continue to struggle to attract middle-class right-wing voters who still associate her with her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. “Bardella had brought a breath of fresh air. They won’t vote for the Le Pen name. They’ve seen her before,” he said.