FILE PHOTO - France's far-right National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen (L) and vice-president Florian Philippot attend a FN political debate in Paris, France, November 15, 2016. Picture taken November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - The right-hand man of French National Front chief Marine Le Pen quit the party on Thursday, a split that opens the way for policy changes in the far-right party and shows the depth of internal feuding after Le Pen's presidential election defeat.
The departure of Florian Philippot, for years Le Pen's closest aide and a key architect of efforts to detoxify the party's image while campaigning against the euro, had looked increasingly inevitable as the party bickered over who was to blame for a damaging electoral cycle.
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