Court upholds Marine Le Pen’s conviction, but leaves path to presidency

Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, in Paris on July 7, 2024. Le Pen, whose far-right party leads polls in France, was convicted in 2025 of embezzlement. The outcome of her appeal will determine if she can run for president. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times)

By MARK LANDLER and SÉGOLÉNE LE STRADIC

Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader and a front-runner to win next year’s presidential election, on Tuesday lost her appeal of an embezzlement conviction, prolonging more than a year of suspense over whether she will run for the presidency.

Though the court upheld the conviction, it shortened a previous ban on Le Pen running for office, which reopens the door to a potential campaign. But the decision means she will have to wear an electronic bracelet that limits her movements — something she has previously said would make a candidacy impossible.

The verdict reverberated through French politics, scrambling the race to replace President Emmanuel Macron and shaking up one of Europe’s largest far-right parties, the National Rally, which is closer to gaining power than at any time in its half-century history.

If Le Pen had been ruled ineligible to run, she would have immediately ceded her spot to Jordan Bardella, her 30-year-old protégé and the president of the party. With the implications of the ruling not completely clear, she is scheduled to announce her plans in a television interview Tuesday evening.

At issue in the case was whether Le Pen, 57, oversaw a scheme to use European funds — intended to subsidize the salaries of the party’s aides at the European Parliament — to pay for other party activities. She denied involvement, though she acknowledged during her appeal that some of those aides may have unwittingly undertaken work unrelated to their jobs in Brussels.

Le Pen had previously lashed out against the charges, saying they were part of a political witch hunt and would deprive millions of French people of their votes in the next election. A three-time candidate for president, Le Pen won more than 41% of the vote in 2022, even as she lost to Macron.