Far-right French leader Le Pen to run in next presidential election after court ruling

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she’ll run for the French presidency next year after the decision of an appeals court cleared her way.

The decision comes despite the court ruling that the politician would have to wear an electronic tag.

Le Pen said she will appeal the ruling to France's highest court.

The far-right leader was found guilty of misappropriating public funds by a court last March.

Her political future had been on the line today as a Paris appeals court ruled on her eligibility for the next election.

She received a five-year ban ​from public office in March 2025 for embezzling more than €4m (£3.4m) from the European Parliament.

Judges upheld the earlier court judgement that she was guilty of misappropriating EU funds and ruled she is ineligible to hold public office for 45 months, but suspended this for 30 months.

While that ruling clears the way for Le Pen to run in the 2027 presidential election, the court also sentenced her to a three-year jail term: two suspended and one ​with an electronic ankle tag.

So while it will not prevent her from entering the race for France's highest office, it would make any campaign politically and logistically difficult.

Le Pen left the courtroom without speaking to journalists and her lawyers said she would reflect upon the verdict.

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She previously said she would be reluctant to campaign for the presidency while serving a sentence under electronic monitoring.

But speaking on Tuesday night, she suggested that she won't be subjected to monitoring at all, and that she'll be vindicated in her appeal.

The Court of Cassation previously said it would be able to rule before the presidential election - with the first round of the race due to be held in April.

Her National Rally party leads ‌opinion polls for next April's election. And Le Pen, who has three times failed to win the presidency for the far-right in 15 years ​at the helm, is gambling that voters can overlook the guilty verdict.

(c) Sky News 2026: Far-right French leader Le Pen to run in next presidential election after court ruling