The French National Rally president’s appearance at Reform UK’s September conference will underline the increasingly organised relationship between nationalist movements seeking power on both sides of the Channel.
Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s National Rally, will address Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham this September, in a high-profile appearance that signals a deepening political relationship between two of Europe’s most influential nationalist parties.
The 30-year-old French politician is expected to deliver his speech in English to Reform members gathered at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. Bardella has been announced as a keynote speaker, with his intervention expected to outline how National Rally and Reform UK could cooperate should both parties enter government.
Reform’s 2026 national conference will take place at the NEC from September 3 to September 5. The opening Thursday will be dedicated to business, followed by the main gathering for members on Friday and Saturday. Party organisers have presented the event as a forum bringing together Reform’s leadership, grassroots activists and prospective supporters as the movement seeks to demonstrate that it is capable of moving beyond protest politics.
Bardella’s appearance will carry considerable symbolic weight. National Rally has spent years attempting to transform itself from a political movement associated with the provocative legacy of its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, into a party that can credibly claim to be ready for national office. Bardella, who has served as party president since 2022, has become central to that strategy, combining a polished media presence with uncompromising positions on immigration, national sovereignty and the authority of the European Union.
The invitation also reflects Nigel Farage’s effort to place Reform UK within a broader international network of nationalist and populist parties. Reform has increasingly promoted itself not merely as a vehicle for British dissatisfaction but as part of a political movement challenging established centre-left and centre-right parties across the Western world.
Bardella and Farage have already explored the possibility of closer cooperation. During a meeting in London in December 2025, Bardella called for a “patriotic alliance” between their parties and publicly supported Farage’s ambition to become prime minister. Their relationship represents a notable evolution from earlier periods when Farage sought to distance himself from the French party and criticised elements of its political and economic programme.
Their parties share a number of broad priorities. Both advocate tougher border controls, reduced immigration and the restoration of national authority from international institutions. Both have also sought to benefit from distrust of traditional political parties, concerns over living standards and public frustration with governments perceived as unable to control migration or provide effective public services.
Significant differences nevertheless remain. Reform operates outside the European Union and presents Brexit as the foundation of Britain’s restored sovereignty. National Rally, by contrast, has abandoned earlier suggestions that France should leave the EU or the euro, preferring instead to alter the balance of power within the bloc by strengthening national governments and weakening the influence of European institutions.
Bardella’s decision to speak in English appears designed to reinforce his international credentials. It will give him direct access to Reform’s membership while allowing him to present National Rally as part of a modern, coordinated political tendency rather than an isolated French phenomenon. As chairman of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, he already occupies a prominent role within the continent’s nationalist right.
The appearance also supports Bardella’s domestic ambitions. He has emerged as one of National Rally’s most recognisable figures and a potential contender for the French presidency, particularly amid uncertainty surrounding Marine Le Pen’s political future. His visibility abroad can help strengthen the image of a leader capable of representing France internationally, although closer association with polarising foreign movements may also expose him to criticism at home.
Bardella has previously demonstrated caution over the company he keeps on the international right. In 2025, he cancelled a planned speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the United States after accusing former Trump adviser Steve Bannon of making a gesture resembling a Nazi salute. The episode illustrated National Rally’s determination to distance itself from extremist imagery even while developing relationships with conservative and nationalist movements abroad.
For Farage, securing Bardella as a conference speaker adds international stature to an event intended to reinforce Reform’s claim that it is preparing for government. The party used its 2025 Birmingham conference to present itself as the next major force in British politics, attracting more than 10,000 attendees and emphasising its organisational growth.
The decision may also sharpen political criticism of Reform. Opponents are likely to portray the invitation as further evidence of Farage’s willingness to associate with parties widely described as belonging to Europe’s far right. Reform, however, is expected to frame Bardella as a successful advocate of national sovereignty and border control whose party has built a large and durable electoral base.
The Birmingham speech will therefore be more than a ceremonial appearance by a foreign guest. It will provide a visible test of whether Europe’s nationalist parties can convert shared rhetoric into practical political cooperation.
For Bardella and Farage, the objective is clear: to convince voters that their movements are not temporary rebellions against the established order, but governments in waiting—and that a new political alliance is taking shape across the Channel.
