French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's right-hand man stormed out of the party on Thursday as simmering tensions over the National Front's election defeats this year burst into the open.
Florian Philippot, architect of the National Front's pledge to quit the euro and detoxify its brand, announced his departure after Le Pen bowed to pressure to push him towards the exit.
"Listen, I don't like being ridiculed, I've never liked having nothing to do, so sure, I'm quitting the National Front," the 35-year-old, who had been one of the party's two vice presidents since 2012, told France 2 television.
Like other big parties, the National Front (FN) was thrust into soul-searching after May's battle for the presidency and parliamentary elections in June brought centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron and his Republic On the Move (LREM) party to power.
Philippot said the debate within the FN about a shift away from his focus on economic nationalism back to its traditional priorities of immigration and French identity were "a terrible backward slide".
"I saw how things were developing negatively these past weeks, that maybe I wouldn't have a place in the project," he said.
Le Pen, who has attempted to bridge the divide between anti-immigration hardliners and other nationalists, said she was "not overjoyed about Florian leaving" but assured: "The Front will get over it, no problem."
She accused Philippot of "playing the victim" and said his accusations of a return to the extremism of the party's beginnings under her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, "made absolutely no sense" and were "partly defamatory".
Le Pen's partner Louis Aliot, an MP from southwest France, called Philippot "vain and arrogant" on Twitter.
Le Pen also sought to stamp out the speculation swirling about her future since her second failed presidential bid.
"I am the strongest and best placed" to represent the party in the next presidential election in 2022, she insisted Thursday.
The 49-year-old trained lawyer floundered badly in the final election debate with Macron in May, going on to win just 33.9% of the vote in an election that had been seen as a bellwether of support for populists in Europe.
The party also fared badly in June elections to the National Assembly, taking just eight seats out of 577.
One of the main beneficiaries of the disarray in the National Front could be far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has emerged as the most high-profile opposition figure to Macron.
"It's their problem, but it's perfect," Melenchon told RTL radio.
