Le Pen Announces 2027 Presidential Bid Despite Conviction

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, has announced she will run for president in the 2027 election despite being convicted of embezzlement. An appeals court upheld her conviction but reduced her sentence, allowing her to campaign while appealing to France's highest court per The Guardian and Reuters. Le Pen was found guilty of misusing European Parliament funds to pay party staff, a scheme that involved diverting €4.4 million over more than 11 years.

The appeals court shortened Le Pen's original five-year ban on running for office to 45 months, with two-thirds suspended. Since she has already served 15 months of the ban, she is now eligible to run in next year’s election according to The Guardian and Al Jazeera. However, the court also sentenced her to three years in prison, with two suspended and one under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag. Le Pen has vowed to appeal this decision to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, which could suspend the requirement for electronic monitoring per The Guardian and Reuters.

The Court of Cassation said it could rule on her appeal by early April 2027, before the presidential election. If the court upholds the appeals court's judgment, Le Pen may have to wear an electronic tag during the final weeks or months of her campaign as reported by Reuters and Al Jazeera. However, if she wins the presidency before the ruling, she would gain presidential immunity and avoid wearing a tag until her term expires.

Le Pen's decision to run has drawn mixed reactions. Supporters see it as a bold move that defies the odds, while critics argue that her legal troubles will overshadow her campaign per The Guardian and HuffPost. Centrist candidate Gabriel Attal described Le Pen’s candidacy as hanging by a legal thread, suggesting she had taken the campaign hostage. Socialist MP Boris Vallaud called her a delinquent, emphasizing her convictions in both the first trial and on appeal.

Despite the controversy, polls suggest that Le Pen has a strong chance of making it to the second round of the election according to The Guardian and Al Jazeera. Her protege, Jordan Bardella, had been expected to run if she was barred from campaigning. However, Le Pen’s decision to stand sets back Bardella's ambitions but positions him as a potential future prime minister if she wins.

The RN party has transformed under Le Pen's leadership, becoming the largest single party in France's National Assembly since 2024 per HuffPost. However, her embezzlement conviction leaves her open to criticism from potential election opponents. The court noted that the voter’s freedom of choice must be a consideration, arguing that disregarding this would undermine the principle of freedom to stand for election.

Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party opposes globalisation and immigration and seeks stricter border controls and fewer ecological policies. She is the daughter of the party’s founder and has run for president unsuccessfully three times per Al Jazeera. The RN's rising star, Jordan Bardella, attracts a younger subset of the French population that the far right has traditionally struggled to reach.

The far-right’s popularity in France has normalised in recent years. Before her conviction, an opinion poll predicted that Le Pen would secure up to 37 percent of votes in the presidential election – more than 22 points higher than in 2022 and 10 points ahead of any other candidate per Al Jazeera. If Le Pen does run and succeeds, she could appoint Bardella as prime minister.