Marine Le Pen's National Front reluctant to look back on its 50 years

French far-right party faces dilemma over recognising milestone as it tries to shed past controversies

Marine Le Pen waves during French far-right party National Rally interparliamentary days at the Cap d'Agde convention centre, southern France. AFP

For a political force that senses it may be only one election away from taking power in France, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party is planning remarkably little fanfare for its golden jubilee.

A movement that began life as the Front National (RN), the creation of anti-immigration nationalists led by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and was renamed in 2018, will be 50 years old on Wednesday.

Given the electoral advances the RN has made and the spread of its influence to other European countries, most recently with the election win of Giorgia Meloni and her post-fascist party in Italy, it seems a milestone it could deem worthy of celebration.

But Ms Le Pen attaches greater importance to the semblance of respectability her leadership has brought over the past 10 and a half years, propelling her from marginalised extremes to the brink of presidency.

She has worked tirelessly, and with considerable success, to massage the party’s toxic image. Policies to ease the cost-of-living crisis have been prioritised without abandoning such core principles as a hard-line stance on immigration, Islamism and crime.

In April’s presidential elections, she increased her share of the poll from 33.9 per cent in 2017 to 41.5 per cent in the second round run-off, in both cases against a victorious Emmanuel Macron.

Few now doubt her ability to do even better, and possibly become France’s first female president, should she change her mind, having said she would not stand again if defeated this year, and make a fourth bid for the Elysee Palace in 2027.

Jean-Marie Le Pen with his daughters Yann, Marine and Marie-Caroline in 1986. Getty Images

A new breed of Le Pen supporters takes comfort in the belief that hers has become a “party like any other”.

But too open a commemoration of the anniversary could prove counter-productive by drawing attention to uncomfortable historical details.

Among Mr Le Pen’s co-founders in 1972 were former wartime Nazi collaborators, including two past members of the Waffen SS. He has been repeatedly taken to court accused of inciting racial hatred.

Moreover, Ms Le Pen’s 94-year-old father is now excluded from his own party, a consequence of his daughter’s exasperation with his repeated declarations minimising the Holocaust and Germany’s occupation of France. RN voters often justify their choice by stressing a distinction between the outlooks of father and daughter.

French far-right politician and president of the National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, with his wife Pierrette Lalanne and daughter Marine Le Pen, attend a demonstration in Paris in September 1982. All photos: Getty Images

Jean-Marie Le Pen dans l'émission de télévision 'Questions à domicile' avec ses filles Yann, Marine et Marie-Caroline le 22 mai 1986 à Saint-Cloud, France. (Photo by Jean-Jacques BERNIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Jean-Marie Le Pen with daughter Marine after the first round of voting in the 1995 French presidential election.

Marine Le Pen salutes party members, with her father to the right, as she is named Front National's new leader at a party conference in January 2011.

Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during the party's annual celebration of Joan of Arc in May 2011 in Paris.

Marine Le Pen after giving a speech during the far-right party's May Day demonstration in Paris in 2012.

Marine Le Pen votes during her party's congress in March 2018 at the Grand Palais in Lille.

Marine Le Pen and former US president Donald Trump's adviser, Steve Bannon, give a joint press conference at the Front National party's annual congress in March 2018.

Marine Le Pen at a meeting of populist far-right party leaders at Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czech Republic, in April 2019.

Marine Le Pen launches her presidential campaign in Reims, France, in February.

Marine Le Pen poses with supporters as she leaves a polling station in Henin-Beaumont after casting her ballot for the second round of the presidential elections.

Details of exactly how the RN will observe the anniversary are unclear.

As recently as July, a senior party source was quoted by French media as promising a “special soiree with videos and — why not? — a concert”.

Now, the only publicised event is a proposed symposium at the French Parliament, where RN now packs unprecedented strength, with 89 members making it the biggest single opposition group.

A garden party at Mr Le Pen's imposing home in Saint-Cloud, on the western outskirts of Paris, appears to have been abandoned.

Approached by The National, one RN member of parliament, Philippe Lottiaux, who defeated a Macronist opponent in June to represent a stretch of the Cote d’Azur that includes the resort of Saint-Tropez, adopted Marine Le Pen’s theme of looking forward, not back.

Macron beats Le Pen in French election - in pictures

Supporters of Emmanuel Macron celebrate after he won the French presidential election, at the Champ de Mars, in Paris. AFP

Cheers of joy erupted as Mr Macron's re-election was announced on a giant screen at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. AFP

Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron acknowledge the greetings of supporters near the Paris landmark. AFP

Mr Macron celebrates the victory with his supporters. AFP

Overjoyed supporters congratulate each other after the announcement of the results. AP Photo

Mr Macron comfortably won Sunday's presidential run-off with Marine Le Pen. AP Photo

Supporters of the incumbent president waved flags and hugged each other as they chanted 'Macron'. AP Photo

Mr Macron was the front-runner but far-right contender Ms Le Pen mounted a tough challenge. AP Photo

Mr Macron said a simple 'Thank you,' after winning re-election. AP Photo

Mr Macron also praised those who gave him five more years at the helm of France. AFP

Supporters celebrate with Mr Macron in front of the Eiffel Tower. AP Photo

Crowds gather for Mr Macron's election night speech in the French capital. AP Photo

'I’m not the candidate of one camp any more, but the president of all,' Mr Macon said shortly after his re-election. AFP

’’The past years have made us what we are today and are our roots, and that is important," he said.

‘’But nothing is frozen in politics and the commemoration of a party doesn't make much sense. This anniversary will, however, allow us to recall all the themes that our movement has put forward over the years.

‘’We have sometimes made the mistake of being right too soon and the anniversary will allow us to remember it.’’

Like many of his colleagues, Mr Lottiaux rejects the “extreme right” label routinely applied to the party.

’’There are two terms that are not appropriate, ‘extreme’ and ‘right’,’’ he said. ‘’I do not think that to denounce the evils of immigration savagery, the loss of sovereignty, deindustrialisation, loss of purchasing power of the French, insecurity etc, are marks of extremism.’’

Marine Le Pen is escorted by France's President Emmanuel Macron after talks at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, in June. AFP

Mr Lottiaux is reluctant to offer messages for “this community or that” and his outlook mirrors the conditional tolerance of Ms Le Pen.

“For me, there are no Muslims of France,” he said. “There are French and some are Muslim. As long as everyone respects the values and laws of our country, it is a duty to work for the well-being and full integration of our fellow citizens, regardless of their religion, colour or origin. On the other hand, if some feel more Muslim than French and want to impose the law of Islam in France, I consider that unacceptable.”

Neither Ms Le Pen nor Jordan Bardella, the RN’s interim president — as he concentrates on marshalling her parliamentary forces and the favourite to succeed her when delegates vote at a conference in November — replied to approaches from The National. Her father and the party’s communications director also offered no response to written questions.