Le Pen's party would lead 2027 election despite embezzlement conviction, poll shows
France's far-Right National Rally (RN) would lead the presidential election if it were held today, despite an embezzlement conviction against Marine Le Pen, the party leader, according to a new survey.
Last week, Ms Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling EU funds to pay party staff. The Paris court barred her from running for office for five years, which would make her ineligible to run in the 2027 presidential election.
But the conviction has done little to sway public opinion. In several scenarios presented to respondents, in which either Ms Le Pen or her protégé, Jordan Bardella, were presented as the party's presidential candidate, the RN led with between 31 per cent to 36 per cent of the vote in the first round.
Their nearest competitors include Edouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron 's former prime minister and former president François Hollande. The Elabe poll was conducted for BFMTV-La Tribune Dimanche.
'The RN is in prime position and in the same situation as the Formula 1 team that places two cars on the starting line. Plan B is working as well as Plan A,' said Bernard Sananès, president of Elabe. However, he cautioned that for the party to secure victory in the decisive second round, it would need to expand its current voter base.
The findings of the poll will likely energise the RN party, which has called on their supporters to gather in Paris this afternoon in solidarity Ms Le Pen, who has described the conviction as a 'political decision'.
Between 8,000 -10,000 supporters, many of whom will be travelling from suburban and rural parts of France where the party's voter base is strongest, are expected to arrive in Paris this afternoon to show their support. A counter-protest, organised by the far-Left France Unbowed and the Greens, is also set to take place in central Paris.
'I didn't think the judges would go so far against our democratic process and interfere in the French people's choice,' Ms Le Pen said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 last week. 'Because, let's be quite clear, I've been eliminated. But in reality, it's millions of French people whose votes have been eliminated this evening as we speak.'
Ms Le Pen's attack on France's judicial system mirrors similar grievances voiced by Donald Trump 's against US courts which have blocked some of the American president's most controversial executive orders. On Friday, Mr Trump demanded that France 'free' Ms Le Pen, calling her ban from running for office a 'witch hunt'.
He also drew comparisons with Ms Le Pen, telling reporters in the Oval Office that the situation in France 'sounds very much like this country'.
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