Marine Le Pen has confirmed she will run for the French presidency in 2027, despite an appeals court upholding her conviction in the European Parliament funds case. The National Rally leader says she will appeal to the Court of Cassation and insists that French voters will have the final word.
Le Pen confirms fourth presidential run
Marine Le Pen has announced that she will run in the 2027 French presidential election, setting up what could be the most decisive campaign of her political career.
Speaking on TF1 after a Paris appeals court ruling, the National Rally figure said she would campaign “without an electronic bracelet”, arguing that her planned appeal to the Court of Cassation would suspend the effects of the sentence.
“This evening, I am a candidate,” Le Pen said, presenting the court decision as one that restores her ability to stand before voters.
It will be her fourth presidential campaign after previous runs in 2012, 2017 and 2022.
Court upholds conviction but clears path to run
The ruling leaves Le Pen in a politically complicated but legally viable position.
The appeals court upheld her conviction for misuse of European Parliament funds, but reduced her ban from holding office. The original five-year ban had threatened to block her from the 2027 race. The appeals court cut the ineligibility period to 45 months, with part of it already served, allowing her to stand in the next presidential election.
The court also reduced her prison sentence to three years, with two years suspended and one year to be served under electronic monitoring. Le Pen has said she will take the case to France’s highest court.
“The French will have the last word”
Le Pen framed the ruling as a political opening rather than a defeat.
She said she trusted French voters and argued that the final judgment would come not from the courts but from the electorate. She also invited supporters to take an active role in the campaign, which she now considers formally underway.
The National Rally leader continues to deny wrongdoing and has repeatedly described the case against her as politically driven.
Her message is clear: the legal cloud remains, but she intends to turn it into a campaign argument about democracy, voter choice and what she calls the right of the French people to decide.
Bardella remains central to the strategy
Le Pen also praised her political partnership with Jordan Bardella, the National Rally president and her most obvious potential successor if her candidacy were to collapse.
She described their working relationship as balanced and solid, presenting the pair as a political duo capable of reshaping France.
That point matters. Bardella remains the party’s alternative option, but Le Pen’s declaration means she intends to remain the face of the movement’s presidential project.
The dates are set
France will hold the first round of its next presidential election on April 18, 2027, with a runoff scheduled for May 2 if no candidate wins an outright majority. The dates were formally approved by the French government last week.
President Emmanuel Macron cannot run again because the French constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms.
That creates a wide-open race — and Le Pen believes this is her best chance yet to reach the Élysée.
A campaign under legal pressure
The central question now is whether the legal process will weigh down her campaign.
Le Pen had previously said she would not run if forced to campaign under electronic monitoring. Now she argues that the appeal process gives her room to campaign freely. AP reports that the final decision on the monitoring requirement and its conditions remains pending.
Her opponents will almost certainly use the conviction against her, especially because National Rally has long campaigned on law, order and public integrity.
But Le Pen’s supporters may see the case differently: as proof, in their view, that the political and judicial system is trying to block a candidate who leads or ranks highly in polling.
A historic moment for France’s far right
Le Pen has twice reached the presidential runoff, losing to Macron in both 2017 and 2022.
The 2027 campaign could be different. Macron is leaving the stage. The French political centre is weakened. The left remains fragmented. National Rally is stronger than ever at national level.
For Le Pen, this is no longer only another candidacy. It is the campaign she has been preparing for since the beginning of the “de-demonisation” strategy that transformed the former National Front into a party with mass electoral appeal.
The real battle begins now
The appeals court ruling did not end Marine Le Pen’s political career. It made the 2027 race even more explosive.
She enters the campaign as a convicted political figure, but also as a candidate who can legally run — at least for now. She will present herself as the victim of a system trying to stop her. Her opponents will argue that France cannot elect a president under such a judicial shadow.
The election is still months away, but the campaign has already begun.
And Marine Le Pen has chosen her line: the courts have spoken, but the people will decide.
