Marine Le Pen's bid for power and the history of France's far right

Marine Le Pen's bid for power and the history of France's far right

From Irish Times Inside Politics by The Irish Times

July 13, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Marine Le Pen's political ambitions and the historical context of France's far right, featuring insights from journalist Enda O’Doherty.

Last week an appeals court opened the way for Marine Le Pen of French far-right party National Rally to stand in next year's presidential election. If the far right comes to power in Paris it will be the culmination of a long journey that is outlined in The Dark Side of France: A History of the Far Right, a new book by Irish journalist Enda O’Doherty.  Hugh talks to O’Doherty about his book and what a Le Pen victory would mean. They discuss tensions within National Rally between economically liberal conservatism and its working-class base and trace the far right’s roots from the Dreyfus Affair and antisemitism through Action Française, Vichy collaboration, the Algeria crisis and how Marine’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen built up National Rally, then called Front National. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Hugh

Guest: Enda O’Doherty

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Rally

Books & works: The Dark Side of France: A History of the Far Right

Places: France

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