From Defeat to Conquest of the Élysée

A French politician known for her career in the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen was born on August 5, 1968 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Beaten twice by Emmanuel Macron in the presidential elections of 2017 and 2022, she could now take her revenge in the next race for the Élysée, thus crowning the dream of her life and accessing supreme power in 2027.

Elections in France, first exit polls from Belgium: Le Pen’s RN at 33.34%. The left (NFP) follows with 30%, Macron at 22%. Record turnout: at 5 p.m., it is close to 60%.

The elections

Thirteen years away from the 2011 Tours congress, when she replaced her father Jean-Marie Le Pen at the head of the former National Front, thus beginning the long work of “de-demonizing” the neo-fascist party, the fifty-five-year-old lawyer, champion of “national preference”, aims to break the “glass ceiling” that has prevented the overseas Tricolor Flame from accessing power for half a century. But before her, it will be her twenty-eight-year-old successor, Jordan Bardella, who will assume the role of Prime Minister in the event of victory in the early elections today and on July 7. For Le Pen, the surprise vote called by Macron after the defeat in the European elections on June 9 is a unique and unexpected opportunity towards the long-awaited conquest of the presidency in 2027.

Son dauphin

As always in the Le Pen saga, politics and family are closely linked and it is perhaps no coincidence that Bardella is the ex-boyfriend of Nolwenn Olivier, daughter of Marine Le Pen’s sister, Marie-Caroline. A “magic circle” in a blue-white-red sauce that today allows the eternal contender for the Élysée to pilot her Italian-born dauphin very closely, despite the nuances, confident that he will not betray her in the next three years and encouraging him to postpone, or even bury, certain electoral promises with his mind turned towards the Élysée. The hypothesis of cohabitation with Bardella at Matignon and Macron at the Élysée is far from allowing the realization of all the promises of the RN and this represents for Le Pen a perfect alibi to claim the Élysée in 2027. A false argument, according to the detractors in Paris, because in the event of cohabitation, the Prime Minister in fact has sufficient powers to freely govern the country, independently of the so-called “reserved domain” of the Élysée, as demonstrated in his time by the socialist Lionel Jospin during the last cohabitation with the neo-Gaullist Jacques Chirac.

The obstacles of the RN

The only real obstacle to the implementation of the RN program, observed in Paris, is rather respect for the rule of law: the French Constitution in fact prohibits discriminatory or discriminatory measures such as the “national preference” promised by the RN . But even in this case, Le Pen can turn this disadvantage into an advantage, making it a key argument for the presidential election. From the chair of the Élysée, she would in fact have the power to undertake profound modifications to the Fundamental Charter promoted in 1958 by Charles De Gaulle (1958), thus allowing the application of the Lepénist program. Interviewed a few days ago by RTL radio, she assured: “I am ready to make enormous sacrifices for my country and for my people.” Asked if she would not have preferred to send Jordan Bardella to scout out of “fear”, she categorically denies it. Fear ? “If I had feared something, I would have decided to plant strawberries, I would have decided to raise cats as my main activity.” And again: “I could have entered a multitude of professions where there is absolutely no risk. Allow me to say – Le Pen concluded – that my journey may suggest that I am courageous enough not to be afraid of much.” By 2027, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s daughter could continue to chair her deputies in the National Assembly. Among the faithful, some encourage him to aim for the presidency of the hemicycle, a role which could help to forge an image of prestige for him, thus strengthening his “presidential” stature, in the hope of breaking once and for all the self -called the “curse” of Le Pen, the long series of defeats which kept them away from power for fifty years.

Marine Le Pen, who is she?

In 1986, she joined the Front National, the party founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. From 2004 to 2017, she became an MEP, representing the FN in the European Parliament. In 2011, she succeeded Jean-Marie Le Pen as leader of the National Front. In 2012, she ran in the French presidential elections, reaching third place with 17.9% of the vote in the first round. In 2017, she ran again in the presidential elections, reaching the second round but losing to Emmanuel Macron with 33.9% of the vote. In 2021, she became president of the RN and in 2022, she ran again in the presidential elections, reaching the second round and losing to Emmanuel Macron with 41.5% of the vote.

The electoral program

Immigration: It favors very restrictive policies, including the significant reduction of legal immigration and the expulsion of irregular immigrants.
Economy: it proposes a nationalist economic policy, including exit from the Eurozone, economic protectionism and the defense of French industries.
Security: it promotes a strengthening of law enforcement and severe measures against terrorism and crime.
European Union: it severely criticizes the EU and promotes a return to national sovereignty, with the idea of a referendum for France’s exit from the EU (Frexit).
National identity: she firmly supports the defense of French cultural identity, opposing multiculturalism.

Controversies

Accusations of xenophobia and racism: The party has often been accused of promoting racist and xenophobic policies. Internal conflicts: In 2015, she expelled her father Jean-Marie Le Pen from the party due to his controversial statements. Legal problems: She has been the subject of several investigations, including those relating to the alleged misappropriation of European funds and incitement to hatred.

Private life

After her mother, Pierrette Lalanne, fell in love with a journalist who came to interview her at the family home in Montretout in Saint-Cloud, her parents separated in 1984, when she was 16. She began a relationship with her father’s communications manager, Lorrain de Saint Affrique. In 1997, she married Franck Chauffroy, a business executive working for the National Front. From this marriage were born three children, Jehanne, born in 1998, and twins Louis and Mathilde, born in 1999 and baptized in the traditionalist Catholic church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. She divorced in 2001. Since 2009, she has had a new partner: Louis Aliot. He is also divorced. Then they separate. She lived until 2014 in an outbuilding of the Montretout property, where the Le Pen family had settled in the late 1970s. She then moved to a residence that she bought in La Celle-Saint-Cloud in the Yvelines.

How much does she earn?

Since 2014, the leader of the far right has been required to declare the sums she receives to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP). But the exact nature of these emoluments remains unclear. In her public statement, the former president of the RN indicates 60,000 euros net per year – or 5,000 euros monthly – in the “remuneration” box. In the media, however, she speaks of “expense reimbursement” and it is also under this name that the amount appears in the party’s accounts. According to French daily newspapers, in 2023 she received around 12,500 euros net per month.

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