Marine Le Pen is back — and stronger than ever in the polls. After an appeals court cleared the veteran right-wing politician to contest next year’s French presidential election, opinion surveys now place her as the early favorite to succeed Emmanuel Macron.
Le Pen, who reached the presidential runoff in both 2017 and 2022, saw her 2027 ambitions nearly derailed last year when she was convicted of misusing EU funds intended for parliamentary aides. She was sentenced to four years in prison, fined, and barred from public office for five years. But the appeals court ruling has restored her eligibility, and French voters appear ready to give her another look. The development has sent ripples through European politics, where her National Rally party has become one of the continent’s most powerful populist movements.
