Marine Le Pen

She led the National Front from 2011 to 2021. She has been a presidential candidate in 2012, 2017 and 2022 and is named among the possible contenders for the 2027 French presidential election.

Career

Le Pen studied law at Panthéon-Assas and practised as a lawyer from 1992 to 1998 before joining the National Front's legal department. She was a regional councillor in several regions, a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 and party president from 2011 to 2021, renaming it National Rally. She won 17.9% in 2012, reached the run-off in 2017 (33.9%) and in 2022 (41.45%) after 23.15% in the first round.

Positions

Reference works describe her as far-right, nationalist and protectionist, opposed to immigration and globalisation. She has pursued what she calls the de-demonisation of her party.

Controversies

In March 2025 a Paris court convicted her of embezzling European Parliament funds meant for assistants, who it found worked for the party, in a system covering 2004-2016. It imposed a five-year ban from office, two years under electronic monitoring, a suspended term and a 100,000 euro fine. She denies wrongdoing and appealed. The appeal trial opened in January 2026. According to Wikipedia, the 2026 ruling upheld the conviction with reduced penalties, leaving her free to run in 2027.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Wikipedia · News4Jax (AP)

Photo: Vox España, CC0, Wikimedia Commons (cropped)