Marine Le Pen convicted on appeal, confirms 2027 presidential bid 

Marine Le Pen has been convicted on appeal for the misappropriation of public funds in the case concerning the European Parliament assistants of France’s former Front National, now the Rassemblement National (RN). 

Following the ruling, the leader of the RN group in the French National Assembly announced that she would appeal to the Court of Cassation while confirming her intention to stand in the 2027 French presidential election. 

The case against the National Rally

At first instance, on 31 March 2025, Marine Le Pen, the Front National (now the Rassemblement National), and 23 other defendants were found guilty of operating a system of fictitious parliamentary assistant jobs at the European Parliament between 2004 and 2016. 

The RN, five former Members of the European Parliament, four former parliamentary assistants, the party’s accountant and its treasurer all appealed the ruling. 

On 7 July, the Paris Court of Appeal’s chamber specialising in economic and financial crimes handed down sentences to the 12 appellants. It also imposed fines and bans from holding public office, and ordered the defendants to reimburse the European Parliament €2.8 million in damages. 

A reduced ban from public office

For Marine Le Pen, the Prosecutor General had sought a four-year prison sentence on 3 February 2026, including one year to be served under electronic monitoring, a €100,000 fine and a five-year ban from holding public office, without immediate enforcement. 

The Court of Appeal instead imposed a 45-month period of ineligibility, 15 months of which had already been served under the provisional enforcement of the first-instance ruling, along with a three-year prison sentence, including one year to be served under electronic monitoring. 

As a result, the ruling does not prevent her from standing in France’s 2027 presidential election.

Moreover, she confirmed that she intends to seek a fourth presidential mandate while challenging the judgment before the Court of Cassation.

Campaign without an electronic tag – for now

On 8 July, the Paris prosecutor general clarified that Le Pen would be able to campaign “without an electronic tag” for the time being.

However, she could ultimately face part of the campaign under electronic monitoring, a prospect Le Pen has long rejected.

“If I can be a candidate, I will be a candidate, provided I am able to campaign,” she said in an interview with LCI on 30 June. She argued that “a presidential candidate must be completely free in their movements” and that wearing an electronic monitoring device would be incompatible with running for president. 

Bardella remains on the sidelines

Le Pen’s announcement effectively rules out, for now, the prospect of Jordan Bardella replacing her as the RN’s presidential candidate.

Instead, she emphasised the complementary roles she and Bardella play within the party, describing them as a “winning ticket” ahead of the 2027 presidential race.