Le Pen, Farage and the people’s verdict

{"text":[[{"start":5.9,"text":"I have done nothing wrong. Let the people decide. Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage had the same defiant response to, in her case, a criminal conviction and in his, an alleged breach of parliamentary financial disclosure rules: to sidestep the authorities by appealing directly to voters."}],[{"start":24.15,"text":"The French far-right leader and her UK counterpart are formidable, battle-hardened populist campaigners who have never been closer to taking power. But their ascent has been jeopardised by accusations of financial irregularities: Le Pen has been convicted of embezzling EU funds; Farage is facing a parliamentary standards investigation over his failure to declare a £5mn gift from a crypto billionaire. Their response was to submit themselves to an election."}],[{"start":53.4,"text":"It was a coincidence of timing, but hardly a surprise. Siding with the people against a supposedly self-serving political elite is the essence of populism. Donald Trump famously said in 2016 he could stand in the middle of New York’s Fifth Avenue “and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters”. A popular mandate can be a literal or metaphorical get-out-of-jail-free card, as events in America have shown. Trump has made a political career fighting what he claims is judicial persecution, and has endangered American liberal democracy in the process. Le Pen and Farage are threatening to take their countries down the same perilous road."}],[{"start":94.19999999999999,"text":"Le Pen and Farage see redemption in the ballot box. After Le Pen said she would after all run in next year’s presidential election, her Rassemblement National party published an image on social media of its leader with arms outstretched like Jesus and the word “renaissance”. Farage’s gesture was cruder. He resigned his own parliamentary seat and invited voters in his constituency to back him and “stick two fingers” up to the “establishment”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":120.35,"text":"Farage’s stunt has already fallen flat, with the other main parties refusing to run against him. The Reform UK leader hoped to pre-empt a potential by-election being triggered in his constituency if he is found to have broken parliamentary rules. Instead he risks looking ridiculous. If he is re-elected, the investigation into the £5mn payment can resume and might yet be expanded to include other undeclared assistance. A further by-election could still result."}],[{"start":148,"text":"Le Pen spent years vilifying a supposedly venal elite and once championed the idea of banning people convicted of misusing public funds from running for office. Hypocrisy aside, her manoeuvre is more plausible. As is her right, she has applied to France’s highest court to overturn her embezzlement conviction and sentence, which would require her to wear an electronic tag. The penalties are meanwhile suspended and she is free to run in April’s first-round election. But what would she do if the court confirms the sentence early next year? The RN leader said on Tuesday nothing could now stop her candidacy."}],[{"start":184.6,"text":"Voters may ultimately have the final say. If her conviction is upheld but Le Pen stays in the race, they will have to decide whether they want someone with a criminal conviction in the Élysée Palace. Millions of French voters, angry with mainstream politics, will not care. But she needs the support of floating voters to win. A Trump-style confrontation with France’s institutions weeks before polling day risks undoing her efforts to make her party less toxic and more respectable."}],[{"start":214,"text":"Populists draw strength from the weakness of their mainstream opponents. It is urgent now that France’s bickering centrist and centre-right parties unite around one compelling candidate. Similarly in Britain, unless the Labour government can renew itself, it is still far too early to write off Farage."}],[{"start":238.45000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783569266_8136.mp3"}