French far-right leader Marine Le Pen faces a ban from running for president in 2027 after a court found her guilty of orchestrating a vast embezzlement scheme involving European Parliament funds. The court’s ruling immediately disqualifies her from holding public office. This marks a seismic shift within France’s political landscape.
The decision deals a severe blow to Le Pen, the leader of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party, who had hoped to mount a fourth campaign for the French presidency. The RN, currently the single largest party in the French parliament, reacted with outrage, condemning the ruling as an attack on democracy.
A Political Earthquake
Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old president of the RN and a potential successor to Le Pen, lambasted the verdict.
“Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: it was French democracy that was killed.”
Le Pen, 56, received a five-year ban from public office, effective immediately, even as she plans to appeal the decision. They sentenced her to four years in prison, suspending two years, and ordered her to pay a €100,000 (£84,000) fine. The prison term and fine will take effect only after all legal appeals are exhausted, a process that may span years.
Le Pen left the courtroom before the hearing concluded, remaining composed as the guilty verdict was read. However, she became visibly agitated as the judge detailed how her party misused European funds. She muttered, “Incredible.” She abruptly exited the courtroom shortly before the court announced her sentence.
Political Fallout and Outrage
Louis Aliot, RN vice-president and mayor of Perpignan, who also faced conviction, condemned the ruling as an “intrusion” into the democratic process. He stated that it would “leave an indelible stain on the history of our democracy.”
Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, expressed this sentiment, labelling the ruling “a blow to democracy.” RN spokesperson Laurent Jacobelli insisted that Le Pen stayed in a “fighting mood,” while her niece, Marion Maréchal, accused the judges of placing themselves “above the … people” and claimed Le Pen’s conviction stemmed from political motivations linked to her rising electoral prospects.
While left-wing parties emphasised the importance of judicial independence, some figures on the right questioned the severity of the ruling. Laurent Wauquiez of Les Républicains called the sentence “very heavy and exceptional” and suggested it was “not very healthy in democracy.” François-Xavier Bellamy, a European Parliament member from Les Républicains, remarked, “Whatever you think of the RN and this case, today is a dark day for French democracy.”
Internationally, right-wing populists rallied to Le Pen’s defence. Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders criticised the ruling, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed solidarity with a succinct statement: “I am Marine.”
The Fraud Scheme and Its Impact
Le Pen and 24 other party members, including nine former Members of the European Parliament and their parliamentary assistants, misappropriated European Parliament funds and received guilty verdicts. The court found that between 2004 and 2016, the RN engaged in a scheme to use EU funds meant for parliamentary assistants to instead finance party operations in France. The fraud amounted to €4.5 million in losses to European taxpayers.
Despite her conviction, Le Pen will retain her current position as a Member of Parliament for Pas-de-Calais. However, her five-year ban means she will be ineligible to seek re-election or pursue any other public office during that period.
What Comes Next for the National Rally?
With Le Pen sidelined, the RN faces a leadership crisis ahead of the 2027 election. Bardella, a member of the European Parliament, stands as her most likely successor, yet his relative inexperience may present a challenge. An Ifop poll published in Journal du Dimanche suggested that Le Pen could have won between 34-37% in the first round of the 2027 presidential election, with her chances in the second round hinging on whether other political forces coalesced against her.
Le Pen’s legal troubles come after years of efforts to rebrand her party. Since taking over from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011, she sought to shift the RN away from its extremist roots, renaming it in 2018 in an effort to make it a viable governing force. In 2022, she secured the far right’s highest-ever vote count in a French presidential election, drawing over 13 million ballots.
Now, with her political future in jeopardy, the RN must navigate its most significant leadership challenge in years.
