Who is Marine Le Pen? Are right-wing politician's presidential ambitions crushed?
French National Rally parliamentary leader receives a four-year prison sentence for embezzling EU funds
Le Pen and numerous National Rally (RN) party officials were found guilty of misappropriating funds specifically linked to the contracts of her bodyguard, Thierry Légier, and her former parliamentary attaché and ex-sister-in-law, Catherine Griset.
The ruling disqualifies the far-right leader, who has long been a polarising figure in French politics, from contesting France's 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen also received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and two under house arrest with an electronic tag. In addition, she was fined €100,000 (£83,500).
The judge described Le Pen as being central to a plan to misappropriate European Union funds for compensating party staff.
She was convicted on Monday alongside numerous party colleagues and left the courtroom abruptly before the verdict was delivered.
The decision marked a dramatic fall from grace for the RN leader, whose political ambitions now appear to be in tatters. Her protégé, Jordan Bardella, is widely seen as her potential successor but questions remain over the future of the party without its most recognisable figure at the helm.
But who is Marine Le Pen?
Who is Marine Le Pen?
Marine Le Pen has long held presidential ambitions
Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images
French politician and attorney Marine Le Pen made presidential runs in France in 2012, 2017 and 2022. She was a member of National Front (FN) – the previous name of National Rally, and was the party’s president from 2011 to 2021.
Since 2017, she has served as a representative for the 11th Pas-de-Calais constituency in the National Assembly. She led the National Rally's parliamentary party in the Assembly from June 2022 to June 2024, when Mr Macron dissolved the lower chamber and called a snap election.
She is the aunt of former FN MP Marion Maréchal and the youngest child of former party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. She has also served as an MEP in the European Parliament.
Legal career
Le Pen pursued legal studies at Panthéon-Assas University and was awarded a Master of Laws in 1991 and a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) in criminal law in 1992. Having enrolled in the Paris Bar Association, she practised law for six years (1992–98), frequently serving as a public defender and appearing before the criminal chamber of the 23rd district court of Paris. She joined the legal department of the National Front in 1998.
What are her key policies?
Le Pen opposes globalisation and multiculturalism, and is in favour of economic nationalism and an activist role for the government. She is in favour of restricting immigration and outlawing the ritual slaughter of livestock.
The 56-year-old had previously defended Vladimir Putin and Russia, calling for greater collaboration before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Although she vehemently denounced the conflict in Ukraine, she added that Russia “could become an ally of France again” if it ends.
Leading a campaign to “de-demonise the National Front” in an effort to improve its standing, Le Pen expelled members who were alleged to be racist, antisemitic or Pétainite (a political philosophy associated with Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain who was France’s leader under occupation). After her father made divisive remarks in August 2015, she kicked him out of the party. She went on to rebrand National Front as the National Rally.
Le Pen continues to support many of the party's traditional policies, with an emphasis on robust anti-immigration, nationalist and protectionist measures, even as she softens the party's opposition to same-sex partnerships and unrestricted abortions and tones down support for the death penalty.
How many votes did she receive at the 2022 presidential election?
Emmanuel Macron is due to remain in office till 2027
Ludovic Marin/AP
Mr Macron led with 27.9 per cent of the vote in the first round, followed by Le Pen with 23.2 per cent. He defeated her in the second round, garnering 58.5 per cent of the vote to her 41.5 per cent, a smaller margin than in the last election in 2017.
What has she said about the French election?
On July 7, Le Pen issued a statement after her far-Right party failed to win the snap election. She thanked her 10 million voters and described the progress they had made in two years as incredible. Le Pen also said this made “our short-term victory inevitable”.
“It will invite us to also take stock of what can undoubtedly be improved in the future,” she added.
Are her presidential ambitions over?
Le Pen’s protégé, Jordan Bardella
Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images
Her lawyer has said Marine Le Pen is appealing against the French court’s decision to ban her from running in the next presidential election.
“It’s a blow to democracy,” Rodolphe Bosselut told reporters outside RN headquarters in Paris.
Experts have warned the appeal process will probably take years and may very well not conclude before the presidential election in 2027. Meanwhile, she will continue to hold her seat in the National Assembly until her term is over.
However, she has said in the past that she hopes her protégé, Jordan Bardella, who is the party’s president, will head the French government.
On Monday, he took to X with a statement that had echoes of the Revolution, saying: “it is French democracy that is being executed.”
Mr Bardella is reportedly more popular than Le Pen, so she could be influential behind the scenes, no matter what happens. It could also mean the Right-wing party can now garner more support, especially as many people, including politicians, have criticised her sentence as too severe.
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