Marine Le Pen could run in French presidential election next year, court rules

Marine Le Pen could run in French presidential election next year, court rules The far-right leader had sought to overturn her five year ban from public office - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Marine Le Pen could run in France’s presidential election next year, a court has ruled in a significant boost to her party’s chances of securing power - but the conditions of her conviction mean she may choose not to run. The far-right leader had sought to overturn the five-year ban from public office and a four-year jail sentence for embezzling funds from the European parliament, handed down by a French court last year. Her ban on running for elected office has been shortened, potentially re-opening a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential race. The court ruled Le Pen serve a three-year jail term with two years suspended, but Le Pen has also been told she has to wear an electronic tag for one year - something she previously said would stop her running for president. "We cannot campaign under these conditions,” she told BFMTV. “You can campaign without going out in the evening to meet your constituents at rallies? That would be another way to prevent me from being a candidate.” With her anti-immigration National Rally party comfortably ahead in the polls, her supporters may hope that the ruling will mean she runs to succeed Emmanuel Macron. But if she chooses not to, Le Pen, 57, would be replaced by protege Jordan Bardella, 30. “I’m not scared,” she said this week. “If I can run, I will – as long as I can campaign.” Le Pen was accused of using European parliament funds meant to finance the costs of parliamentary assistants to pay employees working for her own political party. French investigative news website Mediapart in 2013 reported that she had hired two members of her party, then the National Front, as parliamentary assistants. Investigators found these hires were not isolated but part of a wider system of “fake jobs”. In 2023, after a seven-year investigation, Le Pen was ordered to stand trial alongside more than two dozen other defendants over the alleged misuse of EU funds – charges she and her party contested. Le Pen was banned from holding public office for five years on 31 March 2025 after being found guilty of embezzling €1.4m (£1.2m) in European parliament funds to pay her party employees between 2004 and 2016 through such a scheme. More to follow on this breaking story... Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments