The far-right French party leader Marine Le Pen recently announced that it was time for her political party to undergo a fundamental change. No, they are not changing the political agenda. They are simply planning to change the name of their party, the National Front. In an interview given to Reuters, the Deputy Head of the NF’s Youth Movement, Davy Rodriguez said, “The name change is essential to enable us to strike alliances and talk with voters without what is often an almost automatic negative reaction.” Le Pen’s new name choice for the FN re-incarnate? Rassemblement National, “National Rally”. Almost immediately after the big reveal, French media and experts on far-right groups noted the similarity to a party founded in 1941 to work with with the Nazis ― Rassemblement National Populaire. Whether this re-branding will attract a new generation of voters to the Party’s unchanging ultra-nationalist political agenda remains to be seen.
