Marine Le Pen goes all or nothing

Launching her fourth bid for French presidency, just hours after judges cleared her to run, Marine Le Pen presented herself as a fighter who, against the odds, overcame a months-long legal battle that threatened to end her political ambitions.

"There are many French people who are going through difficulties, and we are also going through difficulties," said Le Pen in a prime-time interview on TF1. "I believe that these trials made us stronger".

Many believed Le Pen's presidential hopes were dashed until a Paris appeals court on Tuesday shortened her ban on running for office over the embezzlement of European Parliament funds, used to pay staff for her anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party in France.

The verdict allowed her to run in the 2027 election, even though the court upheld her conviction. Le Pen has said she plans to appeal the guilty verdict while also running for the highest office.

Le Pen's decision to enter the race represents a bold but risky political move.

Not only is she taking a risk by relying on France's highest court to rule in her favor in a final appeal against Tuesday's verdict, but it will also test the willingness of French voters to elect a person who has now been found guilty of embezzlement by two separate courts.

Le Pen launched her presidential campaign yesterday in western France, where she was greeted with both applause and boos. As she shook hands with citizens at a street market in the Loire Valley town of La Flèche, some shouted at her: “Give me back the money!” and “Go to jail!” while others chanted: “Marin, president!” - a sign of the tensions that could follow.

Le Pen believes it is worth the risk, counting on voters to overlook her legal problems and elect her as France's first far-right leader in modern times.

"I think nothing should ever be imposed on the French; they must have the last word, and now the French people will have the last word," she said.

Brigitte Barezh, a former MP from a right-wing party allied with the RN, said she understands why the RN leader is running.

“I know her character, and I'm a bit like that myself,” she said. “You want to show those who dealt you that blow that you're not dead because of it, that you're still here.”

Reach of the authorities

Le Pen's decision to run comes at a time when the nationalist RN has never been closer to power. Polls show Le Pen will easily advance to the second round of next year's presidential election, although victory is less certain.

Her presidential ambitions have been in doubt since March 2025, when she was given a five-year ban from running, but Tuesday's ruling allows her to campaign while wearing an electronic anklet.

Le Pen told TF1 that she was confident she would be able to run without a splint that would restrict her movement and confirmed that her 30-year-old protégé, the party president, would Jordan Bardela, to run alongside her for prime minister if she is elected.

She dismissed the possibility that Bardella harbors any resentment over this. He was supposed to be the presidential candidate if she were barred from running, and now he is ahead of her in the polls for the highest office.

“Jordan Bardella and I are fighting for France. We are fighting for the French people. This goal obviously goes beyond ourselves,” she said. “That’s why our personal ambitions are completely out of the question.”

Barež said the RN has a better chance of winning if Le Pen and Bardella act in unison. Over the past few years, the two have formed a powerful political tandem, combining youthful enthusiasm with experience gained in long political struggles to turn a once marginal party into a potential future government.

"We have offered the French a partnership, a partnership that I believe is complementary, balanced, consistent and solid," Le Pen told TF1.

Political challenges

Le Pen and Bardella have placed great emphasis on public displays of unity, and the rare instances of subtle differences between them have emerged primarily on economic policy. Critics accuse the RN of lacking a solid economic plan to deal with France's indebted public finances and weak growth.

While his boss has been dealing with legal problems, Bardella has begun to advocate a more market-friendly approach than Le Pen on issues such as pension reform, and it remains an open question how she can broaden support for the party among the pro-business right without alienating its working-class base.

One of the key issues will be whether to stick to the promise to return the retirement age to 62 or abandon a plan that some party members increasingly consider unsustainable.

A senior RN official said that some of the party's main programmatic issues remain unresolved, meaning it faces difficult choices, including those on pensions and taxation.

Ivaldi vein, a political scientist at Sciences Po, said overcoming tensions over how to define the RN's economic offer will remain crucial to the party's prospects.

“To govern the country and secure a parliamentary majority, the RN must ultimately win over right-wing voters and, at some point, reach an agreement with the traditional right,” he said.

“A broad alliance of right-wing forces is a prerequisite for the RN to come to power.”