The conviction of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzling European Union funds came as a major blow to her, preventing her from running in the 2027 presidential election race. Her party called the trial a 'witch hunt' and she accused the court of making a “political decision”, a sentiment shared by far-right politicians across the world. So, could Le Pen’s sentence strengthen far-right parties and benefit their leader’s popularity? And could she end up standing as president in any case?

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Guest: Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Edith Rousselot.

Further reading:

• Jordan Bardella: immigrants’ son to French far-right poster boy

Further listening: 

• Young, French and voting hard-right
• How France’s left stopped a far-right surge 

Clips: AFP, France 24, Newsweek, TF1. 

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com 

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