00:00In France, political history is being written, as popularity for the far-right National Rally
00:06is at its highest since World War II, after the party's success at the European elections
00:11triggered France's snap election.
00:18Previously the National Front, an extreme faction led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party
00:23has evolved into a viable political option under his daughter Marine.
00:27Since Jean-Marie's shocking qualification for the second round of the presidential race
00:32in 2002, the party, known for its hardline approach to issues such as immigration, has
00:37slowly but surely moved from the sidelines to the mainstream.
00:40In 2017 and 2022, Marine Le Pen made it to the last round of the presidential election,
00:47sending dozens of representatives to parliament.
00:50Then with pension reforms and subsequent protests, the mood in France began to sour towards President
00:55Macron's centrism, and a political alternative became more alluring.
01:01The National Rally were then brought into the legislative mainstream, after elements
01:05of their policies were adopted into recent immigration law, including migration quotas.
01:10A change in leadership from the legacy far-right Le Pen family to the charismatic youthful
01:15Jordan Bardella has also improved numbers.
01:20With over 1.7 million followers on TikTok, the 28-year-old leader has become part of
01:25a rebrand.
01:28Making efforts to shed an extremist image of the party, Bardella has appealed to voters,
01:33whilst rallying against mass immigration and demographic change in France.
01:38In previous elections, political parties made great efforts to keep the far-right out.
01:43Now some have been persuaded to break the taboo.
01:47An agreement with Republican Eric Ciotti is the National Rally's first political alliance.
01:52For a party that for decades seemed uninviting to voters, they've now become a top choice,
01:57redrawing France's political landscape.
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