French court opens door to possible Le Pen presidential run, with ankle tag

PARIS - A French appeal court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for public office, in theory preserving a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election.

However, the court also sentenced 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.

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. But she is yet to confirm what she will do.

She is due to give a prime-time TV interview on TF1 at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), in which she may make an announcement on her political future.

In March 2025, 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 judgment, under which Le Pen is ineligible to hold public office for 45 months, 30 of which are suspended, means 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.

ELECTRONIC TAG MAY PROVE FATAL TO LE PEN CANDIDACY

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 Le Pen and another by party president Jordan Bardella.

Bardella, 30, has repeatedly said he is preparing to become Le Pen's prime minister rather than her replacement. Yet the possibility that 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 Bardella would outperform Le Pen in the first round.

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 Le Pen had played a central role in the scheme, a finding she has consistently disputed.

The original verdict sparked condemnation from 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.

(writing by Juliette Jabkhiro and Ingrid Melander; editing by Kevin Liffey and Aidan Lewis)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 8:20 AM.