The far-right French politician was a leading candidate to become the country’s next president, but has now been barred from running for public office for five years.

It’s my political death they want,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen claimed in November – a prediction that proved prescient, though few took it seriously at the time. The three-time French presidential candidate saw her path to power cut short on Monday when a court ruling banned her from running for public office for five years,

The Paris appeals court said on Tuesday it had received three appeals for a court decision against the far-right National Rally party that saw its leader Marine Le Pen banned from running for public office for five years.

Speaking to the World At One's Sarah Montague, Bruno Gollnisch - a former MEP who was a co-defendant alongside Le Pen and was also found guilty - says the ruling goes "against all principles of law".

And now a bombshell has landed that will reshape the 2027 race: Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been convicted of embezzlement, with the court barring her from standing for office for five years. What makes this scandal different is not,

National Rally supporters say the court decision punishing France’s far-right leader for embezzlement will ultimately redound in her favor.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's conviction and resulting prohibition from running in the 2027 presidential election was a "very big deal."

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds. Le Pen was also handed a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended,