Jordan Bardella, the far-right candidate to be France’s prime minister, has pledged to fight a “cultural battle” against Islamism and secure an EU budget rebate even as he promised “a lot of pragmatism” on the economy if his party wins snap elections.

The 28-year-old chief of the Rassemblement National party said in a Financial Times interview that he was confident of winning an outright majority in legislative elections, which would force president Emmanuel Macron into a “cohabitation”, or power-sharing government, with a potentially antagonistic counterpart.

“I think the French are ready for change,” said Bardella, adding that the country wanted to “break with seven years of Macronism which has been brutal in its method of governing”. He also committed to using the political “weight” of his election victory to cut France’s contributions to the EU budget by €2bn. “I want to get a rebate,” he declared.