‘She doesn’t give up that easily’: France’s Le Pen eyes the Elysee

 Hours after an appeals court lifted a ban on Marine Le Pen’s eligibility for the next presidential election while upholding her embezzlement conviction, France’s far-right leader announced plans to run in 2027 – possibly with an electronic ankle bracelet.

“I am a candidate in the presidential election. I will not change my mind,” Le Pen told the TF1 television channel.

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Europe’s right-wing forces had been watching closely as some had expected her to hand the reins to her protege, Jordan Bardella, who at 30 is 27 years younger than Le Pen, popular, and more savvy on social media.

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.

“It’s like Russian nesting dolls. Jordan Bardella is part of Marine Le Pen’s political doctrine, and he’s committed to her,” RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy said on French TV channel BFM.

In March 2025, Le Pen was convicted of embezzling European Union funds. The original ruling disqualified her from running for public office for five years, but the appeals court reduced the ban to 45 months with 30 months suspended. The ban started in March last year, so she has already served the 15 months.

She is now planning to appeal to the Court of Cassation, which is the country’s top civil court.

Marine Le Pen prepares for an interview on the French TV channel TF1 in Paris after an appeals court upheld her conviction over the misuse of EU funds but shortened the ban on her running for office on July 7, 2026 [Christian Hartmann/Pool/Reuters]

Rim-Sarah Alouane, legal scholar and an associate researcher in public law at the University Toulouse Capitole, told Al Jazeera: “If she appeals, there will still be legal uncertainties into her campaign with the possibility of a final judgement shortly before or during the election. But if she does not appeal, she’s accepting a criminal sentence while running for the highest office.”

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Although political corruption cases are not rare in France, Beatrice Guillemont, a legal researcher at the University of Bordeaux, told Al Jazeera: “The judicial approach to this particular trial is unusual. The court of appeals agreed to expedite the proceedings in order to issue a ruling before the 2027 presidential election. The Cour de Cassation indicated that it will do the same.”

‘Legal uncertainties into her campaign’

Before 2020, there was a push to fight corruption and reinforce political integrity in France, but the political climate has shifted.

“There are loopholes in the system. France’s public policy on combating corruption is insufficient,” Guillemont said. “This is a real issue in the workings of democracies, and it speaks volumes. To me, it actually reflects a backlash.”

But being an eligible candidate and operating a presidential campaign are two different things, according to Alouane.

“It’s quite unprecedented because she’s going to run for election while serving a criminal sentence under electronic monitoring,” she said. “Even if judges were to grant a big authorisation to travel, we can ask whether this is compatible with the realities and the principles of a presidential campaign.”