Nigel Farage plans October visit to France to meet Marine Le Pen
Quick Look
Nigel Farage plans to visit France by the end of October to meet Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally, following a joint agreement at the Reform UK conference to deport illegal Channel migrants back to France, with further visits to European right-wing leaders planned before 2026.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Farage and Le Pen have a history of interaction, including a 2017 radio interview, but have previously disagreed on economic policy. Their recent alignment focuses on hard-line immigration stance.
BIRMINGHAM, England — Britain’s Nigel Farage plans to visit France by the end of October to meet Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right National Rally (RN), according to an official with the Reform UK party.
Farage intends to make the reciprocal visit after he invited Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s successor as RN leader, to his party conference in Birmingham on Friday. The pair joined each other on stage to sign a meter-high agreement to deport all migrants who cross the Channel illegally back to France, though the finer details are yet to be fleshed out.
RN is due to hold its own party conference on Oct. 24-25 in Orléans, near Paris. The official quoted above, who was granted anonymity to discuss the plans, did not confirm whether Farage’s return visit would involve attending this conference.
The official added that Farage plans a series of other visits to leaders on the European right before the end of 2026.
Farage has had a long association with Marine Le Pen and interviewed her for his radio show in 2017. He said Friday that while he would not have struck a deal with the National Front founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, her rechristened party had moved away from “extreme elements.”
The relationship has not always been so harmonious. Farage said in 2024 that RN’s economic policies would be a “disaster” for France and “even worse for the economy than the current lot.”
However, the two parties have forged closer links over their hard line on immigration issues. Le Pen is the favorite in the first round of voting in France’s 2027 presidential election, while POLITICO’s Poll of Polls now has Farage’s Reform UK one percentage point behind the ruling Labour Party ahead of the next general election, due by 2029.
Farage alluded to a return visit from the conference stage in Birmingham after Bardella’s speech, which he gave in English — a rare move for him in public. Farage said: “The only downside is I think they’re going to invite me to go to Paris and I’ll have to speak in French, but never mind, we’ll get there.”
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Farage will visit France by the end of October to meet Marine Le Pen
Very likely · Within weeks
Farage will attend the National Rally conference in Orléans on Oct. 24-25
Possible · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will Farage attend the National Rally conference in Orléans?
- What are the specific details of the migrant deportation agreement?
- Which other European right-wing leaders does Farage plan to visit?
