Marion Anne Perrine "Marine"Le Pen (French:[maʁinləpɛn]; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician. She served as the president of the far-rightNational Rally party (RN) from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in the2012,2017 and2022 elections. She has been the member of theNational Assembly for the11th constituency ofPas-de-Calais since 2017. She has been parliamentary party leader of the National Rally in the Assembly sinceJune 2022.
Born inNeuilly-sur-Seine, Le Pen is the youngest daughter of former party leaderJean-Marie Le Pen and the aunt of former FNMPMarion Maréchal. Le Pen joined the FN in 1986. She was elected as aregional councillor ofNord-Pas-de-Calais (1998–2004; 2010–2015),Île-de-France (2004–2010) andHauts-de-France (2015–2021), aMember of European Parliament (2004–2017), as well as amunicipal councillor ofHénin-Beaumont (2008–2011). She won the leadership of the FN in 2011, with 67.6% of the vote, defeatingBruno Gollnisch and succeeding her father, who had been president of the party since he founded it in 1972.[1][2][3] In 2012, sheplaced third in thepresidential election with 17.9% of the vote, behindFrançois Hollande andNicolas Sarkozy.[4][5][6] She launched a second bid for the presidency at the2017 election. She finished second in the first round of the election with 21.3% of the vote and facedEmmanuel Macron of centrist partyEn Marche! in the second round of voting. On 7 May 2017, she conceded after receiving approximately 33.9% of the vote in the second round.[7] In 2020, she announced her third candidacy for the presidency in the2022 election. She came second in the first round of the election with 23.2% of the votes, thus qualifying her for the second round against Macron,[8] losing in the second round after receiving 41.5% of the votes.
On 31 March 2025, Le Pen, eight other MEPs, and 12 assistantswere convicted ofembezzlement for misappropriating over €4 million European Parliament funds to fund National Front staff. The sentences for several MEPs included bans from running for political office. Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison and a five-year ban from running for political office, effectively disqualifying her from the upcoming2027 French presidential election. She was also fined €100,000.[24][25][26][27][28][29]
Le Pen has two sisters: Yann andMarie-Caroline. In 1976, when Marine was eight, a bomb meant for her father exploded in the stairwell outside the family's apartment as they slept.[33] The blast ripped a hole in the outside wall of the building, but Marine, her two older sisters and their parents were unharmed.[34]
Le Pen was a student at theLycée Florent Schmitt inSaint-Cloud. Her mother left the family in 1984 when Marine was 16. Le Pen wrote in her autobiography that the effect was "the most awful, cruel, crushing of pains of the heart: my mother did not love me."[35] Her parents divorced in 1987.[36][37]
Le Pen studied law atPanthéon-Assas University, graduating with aMaster of Laws in 1991 and aMaster of Advanced Studies (DEA) incriminal law in 1992.[38] Registered at the Parisbar association, she worked as a lawyer for six years (1992–1998),[38] appearing regularly before the criminal chamber of the 23rd district court of Paris which judges immediate appearances, and often acting as apublic defender. She was a member of the Paris Bar until 1998, when she joined the legal department of the National Front.[citation needed]
Le Pen joined the FN in 1986, at the age of 18. She acquired her first political mandate in 1998 when she was elected aRegional Councillor forNord-Pas-de-Calais. In the same year, she joined the FN's juridical branch, which she led until 2003. In 2000, she became president ofGenerations Le Pen, a loose association close to the party which aimed at "de-demonizing the Front National".[36] She became a member the FN Executive Committee (French:bureau politique) in 2000, and vice-president of the FN in 2003.[36]
Early in 2010, Le Pen expressed her intention to run for leader of the FN, saying that she hoped to make the party "a big popular party that addresses itself not only to the electorate on the right but to all the French people".[3]
On 3 September 2010, she launched her leadership campaign atCuers, Var.[40] During a meeting in Paris on 14 November 2010, she said that her goal was "not only to assemble our political family. It consists of shaping the Front National as the center of grouping of the whole French people", adding that in her view the FN leader should be the party's candidate in the2012 presidential election.[41] She spent four months campaigning for the FN leadership, holding meetings with FN members in 51departments.[42] All the other departments were visited by one of her official supporters.[43] During her final meeting of the campaign in Hénin-Beaumont on 19 December 2010, she claimed that the FN would present the real debate of the next presidential campaign.[44][45] Her candidacy was endorsed by a majority of senior figures in the party,[43] including her father.[46][47]
On several occasions during her campaign she ruled out any political alliance with theUnion for a Popular Movement.[48][49] She also distanced herself from some of Jean-Marie Le Pen's most controversial statements,[50] such as those relating towar crimes, which was reported in the media as attempts to improve the party's image. While her father had attracted controversy by saying that the mass murder of Jews ingas chambers during theHolocaust was "a detail of the history of World War II", she describedgenocide as "the height of barbarism".[51][52]
In December 2010 and early January 2011, FN members voted by post to elect their new president and the members of the central committee. The party held a congress atTours on 15–16 January.[53] On 16 January 2011, Marine Le Pen was elected as the new president of the FN, with 67.65% of the vote (11,546 votes to 5,522 forBruno Gollnisch),[38][54] and Jean-Marie Le Pen became honorary chairman.
Marine Le Pen received substantial media attention during the campaign as a result of comments, made during a speech to party members inLyon on 10 December 2010, in which she compared the use of public streets and squares in French cities (in particular rue Myrha in the18th arrondissement of Paris) forMuslim prayers with theNazi occupation of France. She said:
For those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it's about occupation, then we could also talk about it (Muslim prayers in the streets), because that is occupation of territory ... It is an occupation of sections of the territory, of districts in which religious laws apply ... There are of course no tanks, there are no soldiers, but it is nevertheless an occupation and it weighs heavily on local residents.[55][56]
Le Pen's partnerLouis Aliot,[64] a member of the FN's Executive Committee, criticized "the attempted manipulation of opinion bycommunitarian groups and those really responsible for the current situation in France".[65] On 13 December 2010, Le Pen reasserted her statement during a press conference at the FN headquarters inNanterre.[66][67][68] AfterJean-François Kahn's comments onBFM TV on 13 December 2010, she accused theÉlysée Palace of organising "state manipulation" with the intention of demonizing her in public opinion.[69][70] On 15 December 2015, a Lyon court acquitted her of "inciting hatred", ruling that her statement "did not target all of the Muslim community" and was protected "as a part of freedom of expression".[71]
Leadership of the National Front/National Rally (2011–2022)
Le Pen has pursued a policy of "de-demonisation" of her party, to reform its image away from the extremism associated with her father, the former leader of the party and to increase the appeal of the party to voters. This has included policy reform and personnel replacement, including the expulsion of her own father from the party in 2015. Measures aimed at de-demonisation have included dropping all references toWorld War II or to theFrench colonial wars, which is often looked on as a generation gap.[72] and distancing herself from her father's views.[73]
Marine Le Pen in the traditionalJeanne d'Arc march, 3 May 2007
Bernard-Henri Lévy, a strong opponent of the FN, described Le Pen's leadership of it as "far-right with a human face".[74] The measures have also attracted criticism from former allies as making the party too mainstream, abandoning long-held policies and ignoring grassroots support.[75]
In a 2010RTL interview, Le Pen stated that her strategy was not about changing the FN's program but about showing it as it really is, instead of the image given to it by the media in the previous decades. The media and her political adversaries are accused of spreading an "unfair, wrong and caricatural" image of the National Front. She refuses the qualification of far-right or extreme-right, considering it a pejorative term: "How am I party of the extreme right? ... I don't think that our propositions are extreme propositions, whatever the subject".[37]
In 2014, the American magazineForeign Policy mentioned her, along with four other French people, in its list of the 100 global thinkers of the year, underlining the way she "renovated the image" of her party, which had become a model for other right-wing parties in Europe after her success in theEuropean elections.[76] At a European level, she stopped the alliance built by her father with some right-wing extremist parties and refused to be part of a group with the radicalJobbik or theneo-NaziGolden Dawn. Her transnational allies share the fact that they have officially condemnedantisemitism, accepted a more liberal approach toward social matters, and are sometimes pro-Israel such as the DutchPVV. French historian Nicolas Lebourg concluded that she is looked upon as a compass for them to follow while maintaining local particularities.[77][78]
Her social program and her support ofSYRIZA in the2015 Greek general elections ledNicolas Sarkozy to declare her a far-left politician sharing some ofJean-Luc Mélenchon's propositions. PresidentFrançois Hollande said she was talking "like a leaflet of theCommunist Party".Éric Zemmour, then known as a journalist for the conservative newspaperLe Figaro, wrote during the2012 presidential election that the FN had become a left-wing party under the influence of adviserFlorian Philippot. She has also relaxed some political positions of the party, advocating forcivil unions for same-sex couples instead of her party's previous opposition to legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, accepting current abortion laws, and withdrawing the restitution of the death penalty from her platform.[12][80][81]
Despite Le Pen's attempts to make the National Front more palatable to the international community, the party and Le Pen herself continue to attract criticism: German ChancellorAngela Merkel has said she "will contribute to make other political forces stronger than the National Front";[82] Israel still holds a negative opinion of her party;[83][84] and formerBrexit Party leaderNigel Farage – himself a frequent critic of Islam and immigration[85][86] – has said, "I've never said a bad word about Marine Le Pen; I've never said a good word about her party".[87]
As a president of the Front National, Marine Le Pen currently sits as anex officio member among the FN Executive Office (8 members),[88] the Executive Committee (42 members)[89] and the Central Committee (3ex officio members, 100 elected members, 20 co-opted members).[90]
During her opening speech in Tours on 16 January 2011, she advocated to "restore the political framework of the national community" and to implement thedirect democracy which enables the "civic responsibility and the collective tie" thanks to the participation of public-spirited citizens for the decisions. The predominant political theme was the uncompromising defence of a protective and efficientstate, which favourssecularism, prosperity and liberties. She also denounced the "Europe of Brussels" which "everywhere imposed the destructive principles of ultra-liberalism andfree trade, at the expense of public utilities, employment, social equity and even our economic growth which became within twenty years the weakest of the world".[91] After the traditionalJoan of Arc march and Labour Day march in Paris on 1 May 2011, she gave her first speech in front of 3,000 supporters.[92][93]
On 10 and 11 September 2011, she made her political comeback with the title "the voice of people, the spirit of France" in the convention center ofAcropolis inNice.[94] During her closing speech she addressed immigration, insecurity, the economic and social situation, reindustrialization and 'strong state'.[95] During a demonstration held in front of theSenate on 8 December 2011, she expressed in a speech her "firm and absolute opposition" to theright of foreigners to vote.[96] She regularly held thematic press conferences[97] and interventions[98] on varied issues in French, European and international politics.
Le Pen on 19 November 2011 in Paris announcing her presidential candidacy (top) and singing "La Marseillaise" at the conclusion of her presentation (bottom)
On 16 May 2011, Marine Le Pen's presidential candidacy was unanimously approved by the FN Executive Committee.[99] On 10 and 11 September 2011, she launched her presidential campaign inNice.[95] On 6 October 2011, she held a press conference to introduce the members of her presidential campaign team.[100]
In a speech in Paris on 19 November 2011, Le Pen presented the main themes of her presidential campaign: sovereignty of the people and democracy, Europe, re-industrialisation and a strong state, family and education, immigration and assimilation versuscommunitarianism, geopolitics and international politics.[101][102][103] At a press conference on 12 January 2012,[104] she presented a detailed assessment of her presidential project,[105] and a plan to reduce France's debt.[106] At another press conference on 1 February 2012, she outlined her policies for the overseas departments and territories of France.[107] Many observers noted her tendency to focus on economic and social issues such as globalization and delocalisations, rather than immigration or law and order, which had until then been the central issues for the FN. On 11 December 2011, she held her first campaign meeting inMetz,[108][109] and from early January to mid-April 2012, she held similar meetings each week in the major French cities. On 17 April 2012, between 6,000 and 7,000 people participated part in her final campaign meeting, held at theZenith in Paris.[110][111]
On 13 March 2012, she announced that she had collected the 500 signatures required to take part in the presidential election.[112][113] On 19 March 2012, theConstitutional Council approved her candidacy, and those of nine competitors.[4] On 22 April 2012, she polled 17.90% (6,421,426 votes) in the first round, finishing in third position behindFrançois Hollande and incumbent presidentNicolas Sarkozy.[5][6] She achieved better results, in both percentage vote-share and number of votes, than her father had in the2002 presidential election (16.86%, 4,804,772 votes in the first round; 17.79%, 5,525,034 votes in the run-off).[114]
Marine Le Pen during her presidential campaign, on 15 April 2012
First round results in 2012: candidates with the most votes by departments (mainland France, overseas and French citizens living abroad). Marine Le Pen came first in Gard.
Le Pen polled first inGard (25.51%, 106,646 votes), with Sarkozy and Hollande polling 24.86% (103,927 votes) and 24.11% (100,778 votes) respectively.[6][115] She also came first in her municipal stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont (35.48%, 4,924 votes), where Hollande and Sarkozy polled 26.82% (3,723 votes) and 15.76% (2,187 votes) respectively.[116] She achieved her highest results east of the line fromLe Havre in the north toPerpignan in the south,[117] and conversely she won fewer votes in western France, especially cities such as Paris, overseas and among French citizens living abroad (5.95%, 23,995 votes).[118] However, she polled well in two rural departments in western France:Orne (20.00%, 34,757 votes)[119] andSarthe (19.17%, 62,516 votes).[120]
Her highest regional result was inPicardy (25.03%, 266,041 votes),[121] her highest departmental result inVaucluse (27.03%, 84,585 votes),[122] and her highest overseas result inSaint Pierre and Miquelon (15.81%, 416 votes).[123]
First round results 2012: candidates with the most votes by municipalities in metropolitan France (dark gray: Marine Le Pen)
She achieved her lowest regional result in Île-de-France (12.28%, 655,926 votes),[124] her lowest departmental result in Paris (6.20%, 61,503 votes),[125] and her lowest overseas result inWallis and Futuna (2.37%, 152 votes).[126]
French sociologist Sylvain Crépon, who analysed the social and occupational groups of the FN voters in 2012, explained: "The FN vote is made up of the victims of globalisation. It is the small shopkeepers who are going under because of the economic crisis and competition from the out-of-town hypermarkets; it is low-paid workers from the private sector; the unemployed. The FN scores well among people living in poverty, who have a real fear about how to make ends meet."[117] Crépon also analysed the increase of the FN vote in "rural" areas and the recent sociological changes in these areas made up of small provincial towns and new housing-estatecommuter belts built on the distant outskirts of the cities: "The rural underclass is no longer agricultural. It is people who have fled the big cities and the inner suburbs because they can no longer afford to live there. Many of these people will have had recent experience of living in thebanlieues (high immigration suburbs) – and have had contact with the problems of insecurity."[117] Commentators also pointed that there were more young people and women voting for the party in 2012.[117]
On 1 May 2012, during a speech delivered in Paris after the traditional Joan of Arc and Labor Day march, Le Pen refused to back either Sarkozy or Hollande in the run-off on 6 May. Addressing the party's annual rally atPlace de l'Opéra, she vowed to cast a blank ballot and told her supporters to vote with their conscience, saying: "Hollande and Sarkozy – neither of them will save you. On Sunday I will cast a blankprotest vote. I have made my choice. Each of you will make yours." Accusing both candidates of surrendering to Europe and financial markets, she asked: "Who between Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will impose the austerity plan in the most servile way? Who will submit the best to the instructions of theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), theEuropean Central Bank (ECB) or the European Commission?".[127]
Following the increase in support for the FN in the presidential election, Le Pen announced the formation an electoral coalition to contest theJune 2012 parliamentary elections called theBlue Marine Gathering. Standing as a candidate in thePas-de-Calais' 11th constituency, Le Pen won 42.36% of the vote, well ahead of the Socialist representativePhilippe Kemel (23.50%) and far-left candidateJean-Luc Mélenchon (21.48%). She was defeated by Kemel in the second round with 49.86% and filed an appeal with theConstitutional Council, which was rejected despite an observation of some irregularities. Nationally, the FN had two lawmakers elected: Le Pen's nieceMarion Maréchal andGilbert Collard.
In 2014, Le Pen led the party to further electoral advances in themunicipal andsenatorial elections: eleven mayors and two senators were elected, with the FN entering the upper chamber for the first time.
In April 2015, Le Pen's father gave two interviews including controversial statements aboutWorld War II and about minorities in France, causing a political crisis in the FN. Marine Le Pen organised a postal vote to ask FN members to change the party's statutes to expel her father. J-M Le Pen pursued his movement and the justice cancelled the vote. On 25 August, the FN executive office voted to expel him from the party he had founded forty years earlier. Marine's dependence on her closest adviser,Florian Philippot, a former left-wing technocrat, was observed. The party instigated a purge to expel the members who had opposed the changes within the FN under Marine Le Pen's leadership.
Le Pen subsequently announced her candidacy for the presidency of the regional council ofNord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie in the2015 regional elections, though she expressed her regret over the proximity of these elections to the next presidential election. On 6 December, she finished first with 40.6% of the vote, but the Socialist candidate (third with 18.12%) withdrew and declared support for her right-wing opponentXavier Bertrand, who won with 57.80% of the vote. Her niece Marion also lost, under similar circumstances, by a smaller margin.
Marine Le Pen announced her candidacy for the2017 French presidential election on 8 April 2016. She appointed FN SenatorDavid Rachline as her campaign manager. The FN had difficulty finding funding because of the refusal of French banks to provide credit. Instead, the FN borrowed€9 million from the First Czech-Russian Bank in Moscow in 2014, despiteEuropean Union sanctions placed on Russia following theannexation of Crimea. In February 2016, the FN asked Russia for another loan, this time of€27 million, but the second loan was not paid.[16]
Marine Le Pen during her presidential campaign, on 26 March 2017
Political analysts suggested that Le Pen's strong position in opinion polls was due to the absence of a primary in her party (consolidating her leadership), the news of themigrant crisis and terrorist attacks in France (reinforcing her political positions) and the very right-wing campaign ofNicolas Sarkozy in the Republican primary (enlarging her themes). In a 2016 interview with theBBC, Le Pen said thatDonald Trump's victory in the US presidential election would help her, saying that Trump had "made possible what had previously been presented as impossible".[128] However, she said she would not officially launch her campaign before February 2017, waiting for the results of the Republican and Socialist primaries, and preferred to keep a low media profile and use thematic think tanks to expand and promote her political program. As a result, her rare media appearances attracted large audiences (2.3 million viewers forVie politique onTF1 on 11 September 2016 and 4 million forUne ambition intime onM6 on 16 October).
The FN's communications also received media attention: a newMitterrand-inspired poster depicting her in a rural landscape with the slogan "Appeased France" was a response to surveys indicating that she remained controversial for large parts of the French electorate. Satirical treatment of this poster led to the slogan being changed to: "In the name of the people". Meanwhile, the FN logo and the name Le Pen were removed from campaign posters.
Le Pen launched her candidacy on 4 and 5 February 2017 inLyon, promising a referendum on France's membership of theEuropean Union if she could not achieve her territorial, monetary, economic and legislative goals for the country within six months renegotiation with the EU. Her first campaign appearance on television, four days later, received the highest viewing figures onFrance 2 since the previous presidential election (16.70% with 3.7 million viewers).[129] Her 2017 presidential campaign emphasized Le Pen as a softer, feminine figure, with a blue rose as a prominent campaign symbol.[130]
On 2 March 2017, theEuropean Parliament voted to revoke Le Pen's immunity from prosecution for tweeting violent imagery. Le Pen had tweeted an image of beheaded journalistJames Foley in December 2015, which was deleted following a request from Foley's family. Le Pen also faced prosecution for allegedly spending EU Parliament funds on her own political party; the lifting of her immunity from prosecution did not apply to the ongoing investigation into the misuse of parliamentary funds by the FN.[131]
Marine Le Pen and Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 24 March 2017
The ground floor of the building which housed Le Pen's campaign headquarters was targeted by an arson attempt during the early morning of 13 April 2017.[135][136]
On 20 April 2017, in the wake ofa shooting targeting police officers which was being treated as a suspected terrorist attack, Le Pen cancelled a planned campaign event. The next day, she called for the closure of all "extremist" mosques, a remark that was criticised by Prime MinisterBernard Cazeneuve, who accused her of attempting to "capitalise" on the incident. She also called for the expulsion of hate preachers and people on the French security services' watch list, and the revocation of their citizenship.The Guardian said the attack could serve as "ammunition" for right-wing candidates in the election, including Le Pen.[138]
On 21 April 2017, United States PresidentDonald Trump wrote on Twitter that the shooting would have "a big effect on the presidential election".[139] Later that day, Trump said that Le Pen was the "strongest on borders, and she's the strongest on what's been going on in France".[140] Meanwhile, former US PresidentBarack Obama phonedEmmanuel Macron to express his support.[141]
Results of the first round of the 2017 presidential election. Departments in which Le Pen received the largest share of the vote are shaded dark blue.
Le Pen won 21.3% of the vote (7.7 million votes) in the first round of the election on 23 April 2017, placing her second behind Macron, who received 24.0%,[142] meaning that they would face each other in the run-off on 7 May. On 24 April 2017, the day after the first round of voting, Le Pen announced that she would temporarily step down as the leader of the FN in an attempt to unite voters.[143] "The President of the Republic is the president of all the French people, they must bring them all together", she said.[144][non-primary source needed]
After progressing to the second round, she said that the campaign was now "a referendum for or against France" and tried to convince those voting for the hard-left candidateJean-Luc Mélenchon to support her. This choice was later criticised by those in her party who believed that she had abandonedFrançois Fillon's voters in spite of their conservative and anti-immigration stance. On 1 May 2017, a video emerged of Le Pen copying sections of a speech by Francois Fillon word-for-word.[145]
In the first days of the second round campaign, the gap in opinion polls began to narrow. On 25 April, Le Pen went toAmiens in an unexpected visit to meet workers at the Whirlpool factory while Macron was in a meeting with local officials at the same time, with Le Pen receiving a positive welcome. Macron then also visited the factory workers, but was booed by a hostile crowd.
Le Pen was generally regarded as the loser of the televised debate between the two candidates. Her performance was strongly criticised by politicians, commentators, and members of her own party, and described as a "sabotage" by conservative journalistÉric Zemmour. Le Pen herself subsequently acknowledged that she had "misfired" during the debate. In the following days, she began to slip in opinion polls.
On 7 May, she conceded defeat to Emmanuel Macron. Her vote share of 33.9% was lower than any polls had predicted, and was attributed to her poor performance in the debate. She immediately announced a "full transformation" of the FN in the following months.[7]
In 2019, it was reported that Le Pen no longer wants France to leave the European Union, nor for it to leave the euro currency. Instead, it was reported she and her party wants to change the EU bloc from the inside along with allied parties.[147]
On 4 July 2021, she was elected again to lead the National Rally with no opposing candidate.[148]
Third presidential candidacy and legislative election (2022)
Results of the first round of the 2022 presidential election. Departments in which Le Pen received the largest share of the vote are shaded dark blue.Results of the second round of the 2022 legislative election. Constituencies in which Le Pen's party won the election are shaded dark blue.
In January 2020, Le Pen announced her third candidacy for president of France in the2022 presidential election.[149] On 15 January 2022, she launched her campaign.
In February 2022, during Le Pen's presidential campaign,Stéphane Ravier, the onlySenator from her political party, publicly endorsed her far-right presidential rival Zemmour.[150]
During the first round of the election, Le Pen won second place, with 23.15% of the votes.[8] On 22 April, she participated in a televised debate against Macron.[151] She was defeated in a run-off againstEmmanuel Macron on 24 April: on this occasion, she obtained 41.45% of the votes, the highest share of the vote for a nationalist candidate in French history.[152]
It was remarked that a Є10.6 million loan provided by the Hungarian bankMKB Bank chaired byLőrinc Mészáros, a close ally ofViktor Orbán, was used to finance her presidential campaign.[153] The transaction depended on Orban to be completed; normally the bankers would not have done it.[154]
During the2022 French legislative election which followed soon after, she led her party into winning its highest number of seats in theNational Assembly since its founding, RN eventually becoming the largest opposition party in Parliament.[155] Days later, she was elected by acclamation as leader of the parliamentary National Rally party in the Assembly, a position she currently holds.
In November 2022 Le Pen stood down from chairing the National Rally. She was succeeded byJordan Bardella who had previously acted as the party's interim leader during her presidential campaign.[156]
Le Pen and the RN advocate a tough line onimmigration, believing thatmulticulturalism has failed,[157] and oppose what they see as the "Islamisation" of France.[158] Le Pen has called for a moratorium on legal immigration.[159] She would repeal laws allowing illegal immigrants to become legal residents,[95] and has argued that benefits provided to immigrants be reduced to remove incentives for new immigrants.[160] Following the beginning of theArab Spring and theEuropean migrant crisis, she called for France to withdraw from theSchengen Area and reinstate border controls.[161][162]
On foreign policy, Le Pen has criticised Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[180] She also criticised the privileged relations that France maintains with countries such asQatar andSaudi Arabia, which she said are helping to fund and armIslamist fundamentalists,[181] while encouraging closer ties with theUnited Arab Emirates andEgypt, which she said "fight fundamentalism".[182] She has said she believes thatUkraine has been "subjugated" by the United States.[183] She was strongly critical ofNATO policy in the region, ofEastern Europeananti-Russian sentiment,[183] and of threatened economic sanctions.[176] In response to the2022 invasion of Ukraine, Le Pen criticized Russia's action despite her previous pro-Russia stance.[184] She advocated welcomingUkrainian refugees fleeing the war.[185] She has stated that if elected she would remove France from NATO's integrated military command.[186] In October 2023, she condemnedHamas' actions during theGaza war and expressed her support toIsrael and its right to self-defense.[187][188] In May 2024, she officially met with an Israeli government minister for the first time.[189]
Regardingfeminism, Le Pen often says she identifies as a feminist in the context of defending women's rights and improving women's lives, although she is critical of what she calls "neo-feminism", which she characterises as women going to war against men.[190][191][192] However, her position has been criticised as a false commitment, based on her votes.[193][194][195]
Le Pen's appearances on television and radio have played an important role in her political career, and her political activities are regularly covered in the French media.[196][197]
During an appearance on the programmeMots croisés (Crossed Words) onFrance 2 on 5 October 2009,[198] Le Pen quoted sections ofFrédéric Mitterrand's autobiographical novelThe Bad Life, accusing him of having sex with underage boys and engaging insex tourism, and demanding his resignation asMinister of Culture.[199][200] According to French political commentatorJérôme Fourquet, the Mitterrand case was Le Pen's media breakthrough.[201]
Le Pen appeared several times onÀ vous de juger (You Be The Judge), a political discussion show onFrance 2 hosted by journalist and commentatorArlette Chabot. In her first appearance, on 14 January 2010, Marine Le Pen appeared oppositeÉric Besson, then-Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually Supportive Development.[202]
Marine Le Pen in 2008
In her first appearance as a main guest onÀ vous de juger, on 9 December 2010, she was questioned on economic, social and immigration issues by Chabot and political commentatorAlain Duhamel; she then took part in debates, first with the socialistMayor ofÉvryManuel Valls and thenRachida Dati,Minister of Justice.[203] The broadcast was viewed by 3,356,000 viewers (14.6% of the television audience),[204] the highest viewing figures for 2010 and the fourth highest since the series first aired in September 2005.[205]
In December 2010, French journalist Guillaume Tabard described Le Pen as the "revelation of the year", and as "first an electoral phenomenon" and "a media phenomenon after".[206]
À vous de juger was replaced on France 2 byDes paroles et des actes (Words and Acts), hosted by journalist and anchormanDavid Pujadas. In her first appearance as a main guest on 23 June 2011, Le Pen appeared oppositeCécile Duflot, national secretary ofThe Greens.[207][208] The broadcast was viewed by 3,582,000 viewers (15.1% of the television audience at the time).[209][210]
Le Pen has also appeared onParole directe (Direct Speech) onTF1, hosted byLaurence Ferrari and political commentatorFrançois Bachy. Her first appearance as a sole guest on 15 September 2011 was viewed by an average of 6 million viewers (23.3% of the television audience) with a peak of 7.3 million in the second half of the programme.[211][212]
Le Pen has appeared in the news media of other European countries,[37][213] Russia,[214] the Middle East,[215] and the United States.[216][217] She appeared onQuebec web-radio station Rockik in December 2008,[218]Radio Canada in May 2010,[219] and the Israeli radio station 90FM in March 2011.[220] In March 2011, she appeared on the front cover ofThe Weekly Standard magazine.[221] She spoke to international journalists at a press conference on 13 January 2012, organised by the European American Press Club.[222]
In October 2023, Le Pen was convicted of committingdefamation against French NGOCimade when she accused the organization in a January 2022 television interview of being "accomplices to smugglers" and being involved in an "illegal immigration network from theComoros" inMayotte.[228] She was ordered to pay €500 and to also sustain court costs.[228]
In December 2023, Le Pen was ordered to stand trial after she was charged with paying National Front party officials through funds earmarked forEuropean Parliament assistants.[229] Twenty-seven others, including her fatherJean Marie, served as her co-defendants.[230] Her trial, for misappropriation of public funds, was scheduled in March 2024 to occur between 30 September and 27 November the same year.[231][232]
On 31 March 2025, eight MEPs, 12 assistants from the National Rally, and Le Pen were found guilty of embezzling European Union funds by a Paris court.[25][26][27][28] Le Pen received a four-year prison sentence, two years of which were suspended, in addition to a €100,000 fine. She did not begin serving the two years'house arrest immediately as all appeals must be exhausted before this part of the sentence is executed. Similarly, she did not lose her seat in the lower house of the French parliament immediately.[233] On the other hand, the court also banned her, effective immediately, from standing for political office for five years, making her ineligible to run in the2027 French presidential election.[234]
In the2009 European parliament election, Le Pen led the FN list in theNorth-West France constituency. The party polled 10.18% (253,009 votes),[236] the highest FN vote share of French constituencies, and won one of the ten seats.[237] The FN's constituency list received its highest regional result inPicardy (12.57%, 63,624 votes),[238] its highest departmental result inAisne (13.40%, 19,125 votes),[239] and its highest municipal results in Pas-de-Calais: Hénin-Beaumont (27.92%, 1,799 votes),[240]Courcelles-lès-Lens (26.57%),[241]Noyelles-Godault (24.72%).[242]
She stood in the2002 election inPas-de-Calais' 13th constituency,Lens, an economically deprived socialist stronghold. Le Pen polled 24.24% (10,228 votes) in the first round, qualifying for the run-off against socialist Jean-Claude Bois, in which Le Pen received 32.30% (12,266 votes); Bois was re-elected as the MP with 67.70% (27,510 votes).[244]
Marine Le Pen during a presidential rally inLille, 25 February 2007
In the2007 election, Le Pen and her substituteSteeve Briois[clarification needed] stood for the FN in thePas-de-Calais' 14th constituency, Hénin-Beaumont, a former coal mining area with high unemployment. Le Pen expressed the view that due to unemployment, offshoring and insecurity, the constituency symbolised the major problems of France.[245] Le Pen's campaign committee was led by Daniel Janssens, who had previously served for 24 years as the socialist deputy mayor ofLeforest.
Le Pen finished second of fourteen candidates in the first round with 24.47% (10,593 votes), behind incumbent Socialist MPAlbert Facon with 28.24% (12,221 votes).[246] Le Pen was the only FN candidate in France to qualify for the run-off.[247] After the first round, Le Pen was endorsed byGaullist politicians Alain Griotteray andMichel Caldaguès and thesouverainiste MEPPaul-Marie Coûteaux.[248]
In the run-off, Le Pen received 41.65% (17,107 votes), and Facon was re-elected as the MP with 58.35% (23,965 votes).[246] Her strongest results came in Courcelles-lès-Lens (48.71%),[249] Noyelles-Godault (47.85%),[250] and Hénin-Beaumont (44.54%, 4,729 votes).[251] According to political analysts, Le Pen's strong showing in the constituency was a result of economic and social issues like de-industrializaation, unemployment and a feeling of abandonment, rather than immigration or security.[247]
In the2012 election, Le Pen, now leader of the FN, stood inPas-de-Calais' 11th constituency, which now contained Henin-Beaumont following redistricting, where she had got her best results in the presidential election.[252] Her opponents werePhilippe Kemel andJean-Luc Mélenchon.[253] She finished first in the first round on 10 June 2012, with 42.36% (22,280 votes),[254] and was defeated in the second round by Philippe Kemel.
In 2014, the Criminal Court of Bethune found Marine Le Pen guilty ofelectoral fraud, for producing and distributing flyers during the 2012 election purporting to be from electoral opponentJean-Luc Mélenchon, calling for 'Arab' votes. She was ordered to pay a€10,000 fine.[255][256][257]
In the 2004 elections, she led the FN regional list in Île-de-France and the departmental list in Hauts-de-Seine.
Her list polled 12.26% (448,983 votes) in the first round and achieved 10.11% (395,565 votes) with fifteen councillors elected in the run-off.[258][259]
Le Pen led the regional group for five years, stepping down in February 2009 to concentrate on the European election campaign in the North-West France constituency.[260] A member of the standing committee, she led opposition to the left-wing regional executive managed byJean-Paul Huchon.
In the 2010 elections, Marine Le Pen led the FN regional list in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the departmental list in Pas-de-Calais.[261]
In the first round, her list polled 18.31% (224.871 votes) and finished in third position in Nord-Pas-de-Calais.[262] In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 19.81% (96,556 votes), ahead of the UMP (15.91%, 77,550 votes),[263] and won by a large margin in Hénin-Beaumont (39.08%, 2,949 votes).[264] Le Pen's list achieved the second-highest result of FN regional lists in the country, behind her father Jean-Marie Le Pen's list in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, which received 20.30% (296,283 votes).[265] In Pas-de-Calais, she received a higher share of the vote than Jean-Marie Le Pen had received in the first round of the 2002 presidential election (18.41%, 135,330 votes).[266]
In the run-off, her list polled 22.20% (301,190 votes) in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, finishing in third position.[262] Eighteen FN councillors were elected among the 113 of Nord-Pas-de-Calais' regional council.[267] Le Pen's list had the second highest vote share of FN regional lists in France, behind Jean-Marie Le Pen's list which received 22.87% (387,374 votes) with 21 councillors elected.[265] In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 24.37% (130,720 votes), finishing ahead of the UMP (22.63%, 121,365 votes),[263] and achieved its highest municipal results in Hénin-Beaumont (44.23%, 3,829 votes)[264] and Courcelles-lès-Lens (40.60%).[268] Her list achieved the second-highest departmental FN result in the country behind Vaucluse (26.54%).[269] Her regional vote share and the vote share in Pas-de-Calais were higher than those of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the run-off of the 2002 presidential election (21.89%, 445,357 votes;[270] 22.17%, 170,967 votes).[266]
Le Pen's success in these elections reinforced her internal position within the FN. As a member of thestanding committee and a president of the regional group (Front National/Gathering for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais), she led opposition to the left-wing regional executive managed byDaniel Percheron.
Since 2001, Gérard Dalongeville has been theMayor of Hénin-Beaumont, an economically deprived town in a former coal mining area.
A municipal councillor since 1995,[271] Steeve Briois led the FN list with Marine Le Pen in second position. The FN list came second with 28.53% (3,650 votes) in the first round and achieved 28.83% (3,630 votes) with five councillors elected in the run-off.[272][273]
Following the election, Briois and Le Pen sat in opposition against the re-electedmayor Gérard Dalongeville and his first vice-mayorMarie-Noëlle Lienemann.
A municipal by-election was held in Hénin-Beaumont on 28 June and 5 July 2009. As in 2008, Steeve Briois was the FN top candidate with Le Pen in second position.
The FN list led by a large margin after the first round, with 39.33% (4,485 votes), and received 47.62% (5,504 votes) in the run-off, with eight councillors elected,[274] though the FN again failed to win the municipality.[275]
Briois, Le Pen and the six other FN councillors formed the opposition against the newmayor Daniel Duquenne and his successor Eugène Binaisse.
On 24 February 2011, Le Pen resigned as a municipal councillor because of the law on the accumulation of mandates ("cumul des mandats").[276] In a letter entitled "I stay in Hénin-Beaumont!", she expressed the view that her political activities would be more effective for the city at regional and European levels than in the municipal council.[277]
Regional councillor of Nord-Pas-de-Calais: (15 March 1998 – 28 March 2004); since 26 March 2010: member of the standing committee, leader of the FN group.
Regional councillor of Île-de-France (28 March 2004 – 21 March 2010): member of the standing committee, leader of the FN group until February 2009.
Municipal councillor of Hénin-Beaumont (23 March 2008 – 24 February 2011).
Member of the European Parliament in the Île-de-France constituency (20 July 2004 – 13 July 2009):Non-Inscrits (20 July 2004 – 14 January 2007/14 November 2007 – 13 July 2009);Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (15 January 2007 – 13 November 2007).
In 1995, Le Pen married Franck Chauffroy, a business executive who worked for the National Front. She has three children with Chauffroy (Jehanne, Louis, and Mathilde).[36] After her divorce from Chauffroy in 2000, she married Eric Lorio in 2002, the former national secretary of the National Front and a former adviser to the Regional election inNord-Pas-de-Calais. The couple divorced in 2006.
From 2009 until 2019, she was in a relationship withLouis Aliot, who is of ethnic FrenchPied-Noir andAlgerian Jewish heritage.[64] He was the National Front general secretary from 2005 to 2010, then the National Front vice president.[280] She has lived inLa Celle-Saint-Cloud with her three children since September 2014. She has an apartment inHénin-Beaumont and owns a house with Aliot inMillas.[281]
^Served as acting presidentsJean-François Jalkh, from 25 April 2017 to 28 April 2017,Steeve Briois, from 28 April 2017 to 15 May 2017, andJordan Bardella, from 13 September 2021 to 5 November 2022.
^Mounk, Yascha (1 May 2017)."No, There Is No Case for Le Pen".Slate.Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved10 April 2022.This becomes most apparent in Le Pen's views on the headscarf and the yarmulke: While some of her rivals would outlaw these in public schools, Le Pen wants to ban them in all public places. In conjunction with her opposition to ritual slaughter...
^Crépon, Sylvain; Dézé, Alexandre;Mayer, Nonna (2015).Les Faux-semblants du Front national: sociologie d'un parti politique (in French). Paris, France: Presses de Sciences Po. pp. 64–65.ISBN978-2-7246-1810-5.
.jpg)
.JPG)
.svg)
.JPG)
.JPG)
_01.jpg)
