Good morning. Marine Le Pen appeared to have been expecting a guilty verdict in her trial for embezzling millions in European parliament funds to pay her party’s workers in contravention of the rules – and even to have anticipated that she might face a period of ineligibility for political office once her inevitable appeal was over. But as she stormed out of a French court yesterday, shaking her head and muttering “incroyable”, it was clear that she wasn’t expecting this.
The judge found Le Pen guilty along with 24 other members of her far-right National Rally party. But whereas a sentence under house arrest and fine were suspended pending the end of her appeal, a five-year ban from public office kicked in immediately. That means she will be ineligible for the 2027 presidential election in which she has been the frontrunner for months.
