Who is aspiring French president Marine Le Pen’s ex-partner, Louis Aliot? National Rally’s vice-president is credited with ‘detoxifying’ its image – but broke up with the far-right politician in 2019

Jul 12 , 2024

Who is Marine Le Pen’s ex-partner Louis Aliot? Photos: @J_Bardella/X, AFP

The French snap elections concluded this past weekend, and Marine Le Pen’s far-right party RN did not emerge victorious as predicted – but who is her ex-partner of a decade, Louis Aliot?

Aliot once said ‘we manage to separate our professional lives from our private lives’ – and that he would not move to Elysée Palace even if Le Pen became president

He’s the mayor of Perpignan, a southern French city near the border of Spain. He’s also a vice-president of French political party Rassemblement National (RN), or National Rally, and has been widely credited for helping shape the narrative as the party seeks to “detoxify” its image, per Financial Times.

Louis Aliot was also romantically linked to RN leader Marine Le Pen for over a decade – a period that saw the legacy politician drive her party to success and on the brink of power in France.

French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) presidential candidate Marine Le Pen in 2022. Photo: AFP

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron called for snap elections after the far-right’s win in the European elections, where members are elected to European parliament. While Le Pen’s RN had originally been poised for victory in the French election – which concluded on July 7 – left and centrist forces banded together to keep the far-right from gaining power. The result is that no single party have enough seats for a majority in parliament.

A photo of Louis Aliot posted by RN’s president Jordan Bardella. Photo: @J_Bardella/X

Still, Le Pen has grown her reach in parliament by 50 more seats compared to 2022, per Politico.

Throughout the rise of RN over the past decade, Aliot has been a driving force. Who is the man who helped carve a new political narrative for Le Pen and the RN?

What was Marine Le Pen’s relationship with Louis Aliot like?

Marine Le Pen and RN Mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot in July. Photo: AFP

Aliot’s relationship with Le Pen, 55, has been generally low-key, though the couple reportedly bought a house together on the Mediterranean coast back in 2010. According to British media, the pair have always been “discreet as a rule”, but broke ranks a few times – notably in 2014, when Le Pen posted a picture on Twitter (now X) of herself kissing Aliot. According to France24, the picture was in response to speculation that the couple had split.

These days, media reports refer to the 54-year-old as her “former” romantic partner or ex-boyfriend. Per the Telegraph, Aliot broke up with Le Pen in 2019 after a decade together.