French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election and will appeal the ruling on Tuesday that mandates her house arrest.
Madame Le Pen said in a much-anticipated interview on broadcaster TF1’s evening news programme ‘20 heures‘ that she plans to represent the National Rally as its candidate in the race to replace Emmanuel Macron as the occupant of the Élysée Palace next year.
“I want to pursue all legal avenues to defend my innocence in this case. I am a candidate tonight,” she said per Le Figaro.
Her announcement came just hours after the Paris Court of Appeals upheld last year’s conviction against her and several of her colleagues over the alleged embezzlement of EU funds intended to support her party’s operations in Brussels and Strasbourg, which were claimed to have been used domestically in France.
For the supposed misallocation of funds, Le Pen was initially sentenced last year to four years in prison, a fine of 100,000 euros, and a five-year ban from standing in any election in Europe.
On Tuesday, the appellate court reduced her ineligibility to 15 months, allowing her to run in the April 2027 presidential election. However, the court also upheld the 100,000 euro fine, and more critically, a three-year prison sentence, of which she would have to serve at least one year under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor.
Le Pen had previously said that she would not run if placed under house arrest. However, with the threat of being ineligible to run removed, the National Rally leader told TF1 that she will once again appeal her case to the Court of Cassation, the nation’s supreme court on such matters. Due to the return of the presumption of innocence during appeals, she would also not be forced to wear an electronic monitor during the appeal, Le Pen said.
“I had indicated that I would not campaign while wearing an electronic tag. But since I have the option of appealing to the Court of Cassation… and the appeal suspends the effects of the ruling, I will campaign without an electronic tag,” she explained.
Despite many left-wing politicians claiming that the appeal court decision definitively proved her guilt, Le Pen said that she maintains her innocence, explaining: “This accusation is based on the claim that our assistants engaged in national politics when they should have been working on European politics. The court reiterated that there was no financial gain in this matter.”
Le Pen argued that attempts to block her candidacy represented a problem for the future of democracy in France, saying: “One must never impose anything on the French people; one must leave them the final say. And the French will have the final say.”
While there had been much speculation, including from Le Pen herself, that her 30-year-old deputy, Jordan Bardella, may have run in her place should her election ban have been upheld, the National Rally leader said that she still plans on running as a “duo” with Bardella, whom she would select as her prime minister if elected.
“We complement each other,” she said, adding, “We are fighting for France… I think this political partnership we form can truly change things.”
