Marine Le Pen, the far-right veteran, is now eligible to run in the French presidential election next year after the Paris appeal court reduced her electoral ban for fraud. The court reduced her five-year ban from electoral politics, which was imposed by the Paris criminal court last year, to time already served.
Le Pen remains a twice-convicted embezzler of over €4m in EU funds. If her final appeal to France’s highest court is heard rapidly and rejected, she might have to campaign next spring wearing an electronic tag.
Despite this, two opinion polls conducted since her reprieve suggest she could defeat all imaginable opponents in the two-candidate second round next year. An Ifop poll showed Le Pen beating former prime minister Édouard Philippe by 54% to 46% in the second round, including a similar lead among voters over 65.
The National Rally (RN), Le Pen's party, has introduced a new campaign slogan, "Renaissance," suggesting that the rebirth of Le Pen’s political career foretells the rebirth of France.