What will European politics look like in 2029? Nigel Farage is hoping that it resembles something like the pictures he posed for in London today, shaking hands and flashing smiles with Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s National Rally (RN). Both men are part of a pan-continental trend of radical parties challenging their established rivals to gain power in the years ahead. For Bardella, the crunch year is 2027, when President Macron’s term in the Élysée is up. Polls show Bardella is the RN frontrunner, with Reform keen to learn the lessons of best practice.

The two men had never met before but they shared a convivial lunch at 5 Hertford Street – with Farage’s partner Laure Ferrari serving as a translator. Farage, 61, is something of a lodestar for Bardella, 30, whose political car

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