The highest administrative court in France rejected a challenge by former Rassemblement National (RN) President Marine Le Pen on Oct. 15, further denting her hopes of standing in the 2027 presidential election.
The veteran conservative was barred from seeking public office for five years in March after being convicted of misappropriating European Union parliament funds.
The Paris Criminal Court found that Le Pen, along with two dozen other party members, had used money intended for parliamentary aides to pay party staff.
Le Pen, who still holds a seat and is the RN leader in the National Assembly, has previously called the case and the decision to convict her politically motivated.
Following her conviction, she was sentenced to four years in prison—with two years suspended and two years to be served under home detention—a 100,000 euro ($116,000) fine, and a five-year ban on holding public office.
Despite pending appeals, the ban on her holding public office was immediately applied.
Le Pen argued in her appeal to the Council of State that the immediate application of the ban unfairly infringed her political rights.
However, in a statement on Oct. 15, the court stated that it “rejected this appeal because it did not seek to repeal regulatory provisions but rather to amend the law, which exceeds the powers of the prime minister.”
“Since the prime minister did not have the power to do so, he could only reject the request, and the Council of State could only reject Ms. Le Pen’s appeal and, consequently, not forward her question of constitutionality to the Constitutional Council,” the court stated.
The decision has cast further doubt on her ability to run in the 2027 presidential election, where she remains a leading contender.
Currently ahead of her are Le Havre Mayor Édouard Philippe, a close ally of Macron and former prime minister, and Jordan Bardella, a member of the European Parliament and Le Pen’s successor as president of RN.
In the last election, Le Pen came second to Macron, taking 41 percent of the vote in the second-round run-off.
Le Pen has not yet commented on the decision by the Council of State but has previously vowed to fight the ban.
The Epoch Times has contacted RN for comment.
Chief among the issues plaguing the Fifth Republic is a mounting debt crisis that has worried domestic businesses, global financial markets, and EU partners.
Lecornu’s predecessor, François Bayrou, was ousted in a no-confidence vote on Sept. 8, after being appointed to the job by Macron in December 2024.
The prime minister acknowledged on Oct. 11 that there were not “a lot of candidates” for his job and that he might not last long in the post, given the country’s deep political divides.
“If the conditions were no longer met again, I’d leave,” he told La Tribune Dimanche. “I’m not going to just go along with whatever.”
If he fails to secure parliamentary support, France would need emergency stopgap legislation to authorize spending after Jan. 1, 2026, in the hope that a budget could be voted through by then.
A confidence vote on Lecornu’s government, backed by RN and the progressive La France insoumise, is set to be held in the National Assembly on Oct. 16.
