Marine Le Pen, the new leader of France’s extreme right National Front, has congratulated David Cameron, UK prime minister, for what she claimed was an endorsement of her party’s views on the failure of multiculturalism and immigration.

Ms Le Pen, elected to lead the National Front last month, said Mr Cameron’s rejection of multiculturalism in a speech in Munich last week marked a clear shift in British and European politics.

“It is exactly this type of statement that has barred us from public life for 30 years,” she told the Financial Times. “I sense an evolution at European level, even in classic governments. I can only congratulate him.”

A spokesman for Mr Cameron’s Conservative party said on Wednesday: “She has clearly failed to understand the prime minister’s speech.”

The British leader’s comments last week sparked criticism in the UK. Mr Cameron, who has already announced a crackdown on immigration, said Britain’s tradition of allowing diverse communities to live side by side had failed.

He advocated a “muscular liberalism” to bar government aid even to non-violent groups if they did not share Britain’s liberal values. He cited Muslim organisations who “are showered with public money despite doing little to combat extremism”.

The comments come as far-right parties are gaining ground across Europe, as they capitalise on fears of a growing Muslim population and push many mainstream political parties to the right in a bid to hold on to voters.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, facing a difficult election next year and a revived National Front under Ms Le Pen, has hardened his stance on immigration, security and national identity in a bid to boost his flagging popularity with far-right voters who helped him to power in 2007.

Ms Le Pen said it was “indisputable” that Mr Cameron was taking his party closer to the traditional positions held by the National Front. “Moreover,” she said, “he will do something about it, unlike Nicolas Sarkozy who talks a lot without taking political decisions.”

The daughter of the National Front’s provocative founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has set herself the task of “normalising” a party which has long been considered a pariah in French politics for its hardline views on race and immigration.

Under Ms Le Pen, the party is developing a broader economic and social programme to complement its tough line on immigration and security.

Ms Le Pen said it was “obvious” that the far right was on the rise in Europe, winning votes in countries such as Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Austria and even Sweden which was “not a country used to this sort of issue”. The National Front’s 42-year-old leader said there was an opportunity for Europe’s far right to work together to develop a common front against the European Union, globalisation and immigration.