Le Pen in Hénin-Beaumont stronghold for damage control

Marine Le Pen returns to Hénin-Beaumont as National Rally faces a difficult start to campaign season

Usagevpn.com – Marine Le Pen is due to make her first campaign speech on Sunday in Hénin-Beaumont, the northern French town that has long been central to her political base. The appearance follows a weekend meeting of National Rally parliamentarians in nearby Le Touquet, in Pas-de-Calais, and comes as the party seeks to contain a succession of controversies before the 2027 presidential race gathers pace.

Le Pen remains the clear early frontrunner in first-round polling. A survey conducted on 8 and 9 September by OpinionWay for Les Échos put her at 34% of voting intentions in every tested scenario. But the strong numbers have not prevented questions over internal divisions, policy differences and the party’s response to inflammatory remarks linked to one of its members.

A symbolic campaign stop

Hénin-Beaumont carries particular weight for the National Rally. The town has become one of the movement’s best-known electoral strongholds, making it a natural place for Le Pen to reassert her authority and present a unified campaign message. Her speech will be watched closely for any indication of how she intends to handle growing speculation about her relationship with Jordan Bardella, the party president and its prospective candidate for prime minister.

Rumours of disagreement between the two figures have intensified in recent weeks. Libération wrote that Bardella said on 31 August: “It’s her or me.” At the same time, Le Pen was said to be planning a larger role for her niece, Marion Maréchal, beginning with an intervention at the party’s parliamentary gathering in Le Touquet.

Maréchal’s possible return to prominence is politically sensitive. During the 2022 presidential contest, she supported Éric Zemmour of the rival far-right movement Reconquête rather than her aunt. Her inclusion in Le Pen’s campaign would nevertheless bring another prominent figure from the broader nationalist right into the National Rally orbit.

Bardella rejects talk of a split

Bardella has publicly dismissed suggestions that he and Le Pen are at odds. Speaking to BFM-TV while attending the Ambrosetti Forum near Milan, he insisted that their relationship remained strong.

Everything is going very, very well, I assure you. I support her 2,000%.

He also described his connection with Le Pen as an “unbreakable political and personal affinity” and rejected the idea that he was trying to force his own positions onto the party. Those reassurances have done little to end discussion of differences in emphasis between the two leaders.

Economic policy is one of the clearest areas of contrast, particularly on pensions. Bardella has argued that France’s present pension model is economically unsustainable, while Le Pen has generally defended a more protectionist approach to the economy. The president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament is often seen as more favourable to market-oriented policies than Le Pen.

The two politicians also appear to differ in how prominently cultural issues should feature in the campaign. Le Pen has proposed a ban on headscarves in public spaces. Bardella has shown greater caution, saying on 31 August that the intention was not to impose a dress code and stressing that any decision would be put to a referendum.

Immigration pact draws silence from Le Pen

Another issue hanging over the party is an agreement on immigration signed by Bardella and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The arrangement envisages migrants intercepted in British waters being returned to France if the two parties enter government in their respective countries.

Le Pen had not publicly responded to the pact by the time of her planned Hénin-Beaumont speech. Her silence has added to scrutiny of how much room Bardella has to set policy and build international alliances on behalf of the National Rally.

The subject is likely to be politically charged in France, where immigration has long been central to National Rally messaging. A proposal involving returns from British waters would also raise practical and diplomatic questions between Paris and London, even though neither party currently holds national executive power.

Ukraine dispute exposes foreign-policy tensions

The party has also faced criticism over its approach to the war in Ukraine. On BFM-TV on 4 September, National Rally vice-president Louis Aliot, who is also mayor of Perpignan, questioned continued financial support for Kyiv while French public services face pressure.

We turn off the tap. The health system, the education system, the whole economy, everything has been cut to the bone, and yet we still find money to fund more weapons (…) I’m willing to accept that, but who pays for all this? You also have to know how to stop a war.

Édouard Philippe, the Horizons candidate for 2027, responded on X by accusing the National Rally of supporting Vladimir Putin’s regime. He argued that ending support for Ukraine would benefit Russia and said weakening Ukraine would endanger both European and French security.

Le Pen replied within an hour, pointing to Philippe’s time in government under Emmanuel Macron. She noted that Putin had been received at Versailles and Fort de Brégançon, and that Philippe welcomed then Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in Le Havre in June 2019.

Video controversy adds pressure

A separate controversy emerged on 8 September when Midi Libre published video footage recorded in November 2025 during a night patrol by municipal police officers in Carcassonne. The recording showed several officers making racist, sexist and conspiracist comments.

The patrol leader was responsible for nearly 90% of the hateful remarks heard in the footage. A former paratrooper, he had also volunteered for the National Rally’s internal security service and had escorted Bardella.

For Le Pen, Sunday’s event offers an opportunity to shift attention back to her presidential message. Yet the gathering will also test whether she can convincingly project unity in a party whose leading figures are being pulled into disputes over economic policy, immigration, Ukraine and the conduct of people connected to its organisation.