The RN is “not yet a party like the others”, analyses political communication expert Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet

The political communication expert believes that Jordan Bardella’s mea culpa after the party’s defeat in the legislative elections is a “formal” statement but “not a substantive one”, while RN candidates have “extremely serious attitudes”.

The head of the RN, Jordan Bardella, “assume” her “share of responsibility” in the “defeat” of his party in the legislative elections. This is what the MEP declared before going to the RN headquarters, the day after the second round of voting. Because despite an unprecedented number of deputies, the National Rally did not manage to obtain an absolute majority, and is only the third political force in the Assembly.
Jordan Bardella has notably acknowledged poor choices in some of the investitures of controversial candidates. A mea culpa that has different aims, believes Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, partner at the communications consultancy ICONIC and lecturer at Sciences Po.

Franceinfo: How should we understand this statement?

Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet: This is a way of acknowledging defeat. But be careful, by explaining that it is only temporary. Basically, the entire argument of the RN consists of saying that it is a delayed victory, which could be said at almost every election for all the losing political parties, but which, in the case of the RN, is part of the story of an irresistible rise to power. In fact, what they want to portray is that one day they will be there. Besides, that is what they say. That they will one day be in power, but that there are simply obstacles on the road that they will not end up overcoming.

A way of saying we’ll do better later?

Yes, that’s it. But be careful, always with a lot of messages that are repeated and that are very elaborate. It’s a bit of their trademark at the moment, which consists of saying: ‘We are the leading party in France since we had more votes than our opponents.s’. It’s a way of implicitly criticizing democracy, which was also used by Donald Trump and his supporters after the defeat in 2020. So it’s a logic that is always a little dangerous to say that ultimately, it should be us, it’s us who won and in some way the victory was stolen from us.

But isn’t acknowledging their mistakes a way of appearing more sympathetic to the general public?

It’s a way of appearing more humble. It’s also a way of probably explaining to their supporters and to all those who might be disappointed by the defeat and by the magnitude of the defeat, that this is just a step, that we still have to be patient and that we still have to have confidence in the leadership of Jordan Bardella. “We make mistakes”it also means that we can correct them.

Regarding the problematic candidates, in the inter-round elections, the RN executives said that it was not their fault, that all the parties had had this type of problem, that they had not had time to prepare given the short deadline. Now, they admit mistakes. Why this turnaround?

They admit errors of form but not of substance. That is another important distinction. It is in the way of presenting. They talk rather about “media training”, of “correcting” a certain number of attitudes, but they act as if there were no problems on the substance.

“What these candidates are accused of are racist attitudes, anti-Semitic attitudes, speeches that are extremely serious from a Republican point of view. It is not a simple problem of form. So the RN is making sure that this becomes almost a problem of communication, which will be easily resolved.”

Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, expert in political communication

to franceinfo

While basically, the real problem is that the party has not completely changed and is not yet a party like the others. What is complicated for it, as for Emmanuel Macron’s party, is that there is no longer any accumulation of mandates, which has facilitated the integration, the establishment of movements like the LR or the traditional right for example, or the Socialist Party. And this explains why today they still have a strong local presence, while at the national level, it does not necessarily go very well. The accumulation of mandates, which was recently eliminated, has greatly destabilized political parties because without accumulation, it is difficult to have strong local elected officials, established figures who allow us to develop a lasting local political influence, and we become much more sensitive to waves, much more replaceable.

And that’s what makes it much harder for new parties to establish themselves. The RN has a sort of bonus because it has been in opposition for a long time and the government has not yet worn it out. But in fact, it is difficult for it to compete with the more established parties.

Which means that the label “Marine Le Pen-Jordan Bardella” alone is no longer enough?

It’s not enough anymore. There is still a deterrent effect that we see around the RN and then there is clearly an awareness of the electorate who say to themselves ‘we have never tried’, and who notes that there are candidates who are clearly not at all ready to exercise power and are extremely problematic. An electorate that seems to be saying to itself: ‘The party doesn’t seem to have changed, so we’re going to put the brakes on’. This is what the French did very massively. So it still shows that there is a kind of glass ceiling for the RN. The equation is really not easy for the future, contrary to what they say.