A UK-France populist alliance is no longer mere fantasy

PICTURE the 2026 scene: French Prime Minister Jordan Bardella and British PM Nigel Farage, fresh from winning snap elections on anti-handout, anti-immigration and anti-Europe platforms, advocate a new entente cordiale between their two countries with the support of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Unlikely? Perhaps. But increasingly possible.

If the recent meeting between the two far-right leaders proved anything, it is that France’s National Rally and the UK Reform party have never been so close to power and so vocal about forging a continental “patriotic” alliance – maybe one day encompassing Germany’s AfD (Alternative for Germany).

While still divisive enough to be pelted with eggs or milkshakes when out in public, Bardella and Farage are polling top in their respective countries with a 25 to 35 per cent vote share.