Le Pen Opens 2027 Bid in Orléans

Marine Le Pen, the National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN) candidate for France’s 2027 presidential election, opened her campaign on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, with a rally speech in Orléans before about 10,000 party members, AFP reported via The Times of Israel. The event came one day after a second weekend of nationwide cost-of-living protests ended in clashes and mass arrests.

Major outlets including AFP, France 24 and the BBC describe Le Pen as far-right. She leads every published poll for the first round, with the election about six months away.

Orléans Rally Closes National Rally Congress

The speech closed an RN party congress held in Orléans over the weekend. At that congress, Jordan Bardella, 31, was re-elected party president as the only candidate, winning 98.98% of the vote, Euronews reported. Bardella had at one point been considered a possible presidential candidate in case Le Pen’s conviction kept her off the ballot. The party now presents the pair as a ticket, with Bardella positioned to become prime minister if she wins.

Euronews also reported that Le Pen gave up the leadership of the RN group in the National Assembly to focus on the campaign. Deputy Sébastien Chenu, described as close to her, takes over that post.

According to Sud Ouest, citing AFP, the program at the Co’Met arena called for Bardella to speak for about 30 minutes on current issues such as policing and purchasing power. Allied politician Éric Ciotti was scheduled for about 15 minutes, and Le Pen was set to speak last for close to an hour. Le Pen told reporters beforehand: “Je vais essayer d’insuffler un peu d’optimisme” (“I am going to try to breathe in a little optimism”). Her campaign’s central theme is “renaissance,” according to the same report.

Cost-of-Living Protests and Arrests

AFP reported that more than 400,000 people marched in major French cities on Saturday, Oct. 24, against the rising cost of living. Clashes broke out after groups of masked protesters split off from the marches, and police made more than 1,300 arrests. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez blamed much of the violence on “ultra-left” extremists.

A similar day of nationwide protests one week earlier, on Oct. 17, also turned violent and included looting. That followed four weeks of student demonstrations over the condition of France’s schools. Unions and Yellow Vest protesters have said they will keep marching in the coming weeks. The Boston Report previously covered the French government’s ban on “illegitimate” marches after the riots.

Le Pen has accused President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government of being soft on violent protesters and of lacking authority, according to AFP.

Counter-Protest and Security in Orléans

Thousands of counter-protesters opposed to the RN marched in Orléans on Saturday, chanting anti-fascist slogans. Police put the crowd at 13,000, while organizers said it was twice that size. Sud Ouest reported that about 3,000 police and gendarmes were deployed in the city, and that the march passed off peacefully. Gatherings remained banned across much of the Orléans area on Sunday, and police filtered traffic entering the city.

Bardella was also expected to address the shooting in Trappes, near Paris, in which one person was killed and five were wounded. Le Pen said that attack was aggravated by the “mobile abject du racisme” (“abject motive of racism”), Euronews reported. The Boston Report covered the Trappes shooting and other attacks that week.

Le Pen’s Eligibility and Pending Cassation Appeal

A Paris criminal court convicted Le Pen in March 2025 of embezzling European Parliament funds to pay party staff. It barred her from running for office for five years, with immediate effect. On July 7, 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but cut the ban to 45 months, 30 of them suspended, Franceinfo reported. Because the ban had been in force since March 2025, the court considered it already served, the BBC reported. The appeal court also imposed a three-year prison sentence, one year of it to be served under electronic monitoring, plus a €100,000 fine.

Le Pen announced her candidacy the same day, Reuters reported, and appealed to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court. The Court of Cassation confirmed that her appeal suspends the appeal ruling, so she can campaign without an ankle tag. It has said it “could be in a position” to rule by early April 2027, before the vote. If it upholds the appeal ruling, the conviction becomes final.

Polls and 2027 Election Timeline

The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for April 2027. Macron cannot run again. An Elabe poll conducted Oct. 14 to 16, 2026, among 1,701 people, put Le Pen at 32.5% in the first round. Édouard Philippe followed at 16.5%, then Raphaël Glucksmann at 15.5%, Jean-Luc Mélenchon at 15% and Bruno Retailleau at 7%. The margin of error was ±2.3 points (poll summary). An Ifop-Fiducial survey from Oct. 17 to 19 put her between 34% and 38%, depending on which candidates were included (Ifop).

This is Le Pen’s fourth presidential run. She lost to Macron in the runoffs in 2017 and 2022.

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Additional sources

Featured image: Marine Le Pen at the VIVA 24 event in Madrid, 2024. Photo by Vox España via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 public domain dedication.

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Marine Le Pen Launches 2027 Campaign in Orléans After Protests