Marine Le Pen officially announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election yesterday evening, after an appeal court upheld her 2025 conviction for embezzling €2.8 million of public funds but reduced her sentence.
Ms Le Pen will lead the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) for the fourth time in a presidential campaign.
The ruling from the Paris appeals court reduced a ban on Ms Le Pen running for public office, making her eligible to stand as a candidate in the election.
The revised sentence also contained a reduced prison sentence, two years suspended and the third to be carried out via an electronic bracelet as opposed to in custody.
“Tonight, I am a candidate for the presidential election [and I will not] change my mind,” she announced in an interview with French TV station TF1.
“There is no longer any scenario where I would be unable to run… the French people will be the judges [of the embezzlement case], they will have the freedom to choose.
"I have prepared myself for that eminent role of President of the Republic, the key to which lies with the French people.”
Prior to the ruling, Ms Le Pen consistently said she would not run if required to wear an electronic bracelet as part of her revised sentence.
However, she plans to lodge a fresh appeal against the Paris court ruling at France’s Cour de Cassation, the highest judicial court in the country.
This second appeal will suspend the requirement for her to wear the bracelet until the court reaches a decision on the matter, expected to be in early 2027 based on earlier comments by the Cour de Cassation.
By that point, the campaign will be in its final stages, with the first round set to be held on April 18, and the second on May 2.
New polls following the decision are yet to be revealed, but the far-right has consistently been leading in the 2027 race for several months despite the controversy around Ms Le Pen’s case.
Major political gamble
The Paris appeal court ruling significantly cut the original March 2025 sentence given to Ms Le Pen and RN allies for embezzling EU funds.
A five-year ban on running for public office was reduced to 45 months, 30 of which were suspended.
A four-year prison sentence was reduced to three years, two of which are suspended (with the third requiring the electronic bracelet). However, she is still subject to a €100,000 fine.
As part of the court’s decision, the penalties apply from March 2025.
Originally the prosecution had asked for exécution provisoire in the sentence, applying the sentence from March 2025, but lifted this request during the appeal in a bid for the sentencing to start from July 2026.
As the judges stuck to the March 2025 date however, this means the ban on running for public office expired at the start of July 2026.
The requirement to wear an electronic bracelet will also be suspended while the Cour de Cassation appeal is ongoing, which Ms Le Pen clarified in her interview.
“I had stated that I would not campaign while wearing an electronic tag, but since I have the option to lodge an appeal… which was not necessarily the case in other scenarios, and because such an appeal suspends the effects of the ruling, I will therefore campaign without an electronic tag,” she said.
If the Cour de Cassation overturns the ruling, then Ms Le Pen is free from the requirement to wear an electronic bracelet altogether, and will surely use the victory to fuel herself in the final weeks of the campaign.
If the court maintains the requirement for her to wear an electronic bracelet, a victory in the election will see Ms Le Pen benefit from presidential immunity, voiding the sentence during her tenure (although it would need to be carried out once her time as president ended).
Jordan Bardella to be prime ministerial candidate
Ms Le Pen’s announcement also led to sharp intakes of breath across other party headquarters, which know they must defeat the experienced politician in a gruelling campaign to be in with a chance of the presidential seat.
Consensus among political rivals was that Ms Le Pen would be a harder candidate to go up against than Jordan Bardella, 30, the RN’s president and would-be candidate if the original ban on running for office against Ms Le Pen was upheld.
The pair now look set to hit the campaign trail together, with Ms Le Pen confirming that her protégé would focus on the “no less eminent post of prime minister, which requires great determination and energy.”
To be elected as prime minister, Mr Bardella will need to lead the party to a victory in the legislative elections.
These are not currently scheduled until 2029 (five years after the last elections in 2024), however it is all but certain that the next president will call for new elections once the presidential campaign is over.
While Jordan Bardella is currently polling as a more popular candidate than Ms Le Pen, her experience in campaigning for the presidential role and skill during debates is expected to be a major benefit to the far-right party.
What would a far-right win look like for foreigners in France?
The RN is known for a hardline anti-immigration stance, and has vowed to significantly cut back on both legal and illegal immigration if in power.
It also wants to prioritise French citizens through a policy of ‘national preference’, giving them first access for jobs, benefits, social housing, etc.
Under 2024 plans, the party said it would make nationality a requirement for employers to assess when looking for candidates, but that “foreigners with rare skills that are necessary for the prosperity of the French economy,” would not be prevented from getting a job.
Dual-citizens would also be barred from holding certain sensitive public positions.
While the party’s 2027 manifesto is yet to be announced, it will likely be similar to campaigns during the 2022 presidential and 2024 legislative elections.
A 2025 petition from the party released following the announcement of immigration figures from the year prior, contained several promises if the party were in power.
Policies that could impact Connexion readers include:
Ending the family reunification (regroupement familial) visa
Revoking residency permits for people who have been economically inactive for over one year (this would likely not apply to people on visas that do not allow employment in France, e.g VLS visas).
Citizenship would only be granted through naturalisation and birthright/jus soli citizenship would be abolished
Social benefits for foreign nationals would be conditional on five years of employment in France (unstated if this would affect retirees, but an exemption clause would potentially be added). It is not stated whether this would be retrospective for those already claiming benefits
Creation of a dual-border system with freedom of movement only available to EU citizens and not residency card holders (this would almost certainly be challenged by the EU). Jordan Bardella said he was in favour during a debate in 2024.
Replace state medical aid (AME) that covers those without insurance with aide médicale d’urgence (AMU)
For Britons already living in France under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, residency rights cannot be changed as the WA is an international treaty and not a domestic policy the RN could change.
You can see more RN immigration policies, mostly targeted at illegal immigration and certain visas for Algerians, here.
The party previously vowed to immediately introduce a tougher immigration law to the Assemblée nationale and have a referendum on stricter immigration rules if in power, although the exact nature of these policies would only be outlined if the RN were victorious in 2027.
The RN does not currently have any policies that specifically focus on the visas that most Connexion readers are familiar with, including VLS or Passeport Talent (for workers), although these could be included in a 2027 manifesto or future referendum.
Individual RN politicians have also made comments in favour of Britons with second homes in France, who they believe aid rural economies.
Notably, RN MP Philippe Lottiaux called for automatic long-stay visas for Britons with second homes in France and similar proposals by RN MP Caroline Colombier would make it easier for Britons who already held second homes in France prior to Brexit to visit France.
However, neither of these points are official RN policy, and the party does not have any specific manifesto points on second-home owners or foreign retirees in their manifesto (again, this may change for the 2027 document).
There is a risk that the RN’s anti-immigration policies could affect those not yet in France but interested in moving here, even if they are not the intended target, however as mentioned visa pathways most commonly used by Connexion readers are not under any direct policy threat by the RN.
The RN approach to the economy is less clear.
Traditionally the party has been protectionist, wanting to put French companies first, and in its 2024 policy outline said it would require public services in France (such as hospitals) to make as much of their purchases as possible from French suppliers.
Mr Bardella holds a more free-market approach, something that political commentators believe could cause friction between younger members of the party who are behind him and the ‘old-guard’ faction, often dubbed Marinists.
Some measures likely to be blocked
It is worth noting that any major changes could be barred at either the national or European level by the relevant authorities.
France’s Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel) can block elements of certain laws if it believes they are unconstitutional or too far removed from the initial point of the bill.
It could see some more extreme measures proposed by the party blocked, if the council believes they infringe on the constitutional rights of non-French citizens.
At a European level, the RN wants to prioritise the French justice system and place it above the European courts, giving it the final ruling on certain matters.
This is theoretically possible, but EU membership requires member states to accept that European-level courts and rulings are above national ones, making any such change almost impossible while France remains in the EU.
Even if it left the bloc, the country would still initially be subject to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), as is the UK despite Brexit.
The RN previously called for France to leave the EU (dubbed ‘Frexit’) but has since softened its position to become merely Eurosceptic, wanting to change the union from the inside through its alliance with other far-right parties.
The RN policy to limit freedom of movement to only EU nationals would almost certainly be challenged by the European Court of Justice, as it would create a tiered border system incompatible with the Schengen area (currently, only temporary border measures are allowed).
