France's Le Pen convicted of graft, barred from running for president in 2027

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted on Monday of embezzlement, a political watershed that rules her out of the 2027 presidential race unless she can win an appeal.

The French court's ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) party chief who has long been one of the most prominent figures in the European far right and who had been the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 contest.