French court opens door to Marine Le Pen presidential run after shortening ban

Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing EU funds has been upheld but a Paris court shortened her ban on running for elected office. It potentially re-opens a path for the far-right leader to run in France's 2027 presidential race, but campaigning could be hampered by the court's requirement that she wear an electronic ankle tag. What's next? Having left the court without speaking to reporters, Ms Le Pen is expected to reveal her plans when she appears on French television later on Tuesday. A French appeals court has upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for elected office. It potentially re-opens a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential race. However, the court also sentenced Ms Le Pen to a three-year jail term: two suspended and one with an electronic ankle tag. This would make a presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult, and casts doubt on whether she will in fact continue to seek France's highest office. Ms Le Pen has previously said she would be reluctant to wage a presidential campaign while serving a sentence under electronic monitoring, arguing that it would interfere with campaigning and undermine her standing as a candidate. She is due to appear on French television later on Tuesday where she will outline her political ambitions, given the latest developments. In March 2025, Ms Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and banned for five years with immediate effect from holding public office, and thus from making her long-planned fourth bid for the Elysee Palace. Tuesday's appeal judgement, under which Ms Le Pen is ineligible to hold public office for 45 months, 30 of which are suspended. This means Ms Le Pen will be eligible to stand when voters go to the polls in April 2027, because she has already served most of the 15-month ban, which has been running since last year's ruling. But her new prison sentence — to be served with an electronic tag — may prove almost as damaging as a ban. The decision is likely to trigger intense debate within her anti-immigration National Rally (RN), which has spent months preparing for two possible futures: one led by Ms Le Pen and another by party president Jordan Bardella. Mr Bardella, 30, has repeatedly said he was preparing to become Ms Le Pen's prime minister rather than her replacement. Yet the possibility that Ms Le Pen may ultimately decide not to run could propel him into the race. Polls have consistently shown both figures as strong contenders to reach a presidential runoff. Some recent surveys have even suggested Mr Bardella would outperform Ms Le Pen in the first round. Ms Le Pen's conviction stems from charges that National Rally figures misused European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants, instead paying party staff in France. In 2025, judges found Ms Le Pen had played a central role in the scheme, a finding she has consistently disputed. The original verdict sparked condemnation from Ms Le Pen's allies in France and abroad, who accused the judiciary of influencing democratic competition. Her opponents argued that elected officials must be held to the same legal standards as any other citizen. "What is essential for us, what we have been saying for years, is that they misappropriated, stole public money — European taxpayers' money," the European Parliament's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, told reporters. "We have been saying this for years, and it has now been confirmed for the second time: first by the lower court, and today by the Court of Appeal."