Marine Le Pen has announced that she will run in France’s 2027 presidential election after an appeals court reduced the political ban imposed on her following her conviction for misusing European Parliament funds.
The appeals court upheld Le Pen’s conviction for embezzling funds from the European Parliament. However, it reduced the period during which she is barred from seeking elected office from 60 months to 45 months, with 30 months suspended.
Despite the reduced sentence, Le Pen said she will challenge the ruling before France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Shortly after the verdict was announced, Le Pen officially launched her presidential campaign website and appealed to French voters for their support, marking an unprecedented moment in French politics, as a candidate convicted of misusing public funds seeks the country’s highest office.
Speaking on French television channel TF1, Le Pen declared, “Today, I am a candidate for the presidency. The French people will have the final say.”
Le Pen, who has consistently led opinion polls ahead of the April 2027 election, said her appeal to the Court of Cassation would suspend the immediate enforcement of the appeals court’s ruling while the case is under review.
As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor. In addition, she is barred from running for public office for 15 months, calculated from March 2025. The original ruling had prohibited her from contesting elections for five years.
While legal proceedings continued, Le Pen’s National Rally had begun preparing Jordan Bardella, the 30-year-old party president and Le Pen’s close ally, as its potential presidential candidate in the event she was unable to run.
Having unsuccessfully contested France’s presidency three times, Le Pen believes voters may look beyond her conviction in the 2027 election.
“There is now no scenario in which I will not be a candidate in 2027,” she said.
She also told TF1 that her appeal should allow her to campaign without wearing the electronic monitoring device. France’s Court of Cassation has previously indicated that, should an appeal be filed, it would seek to issue a final ruling before the 2027 presidential election takes place.