Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen (French pronunciation: ​[ma.ʁin lə.pɛn]; born Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen; 5 August 1968^[1]) is a French politician. She was the leader of the National Front (FN) political party from 2011 until her resignation in 2017.^[2] She is a lawyer. She was the youngest daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was leader of FN for many years. She is the aunt of Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.

Marine Le Pen
Le Pen in 2025
Leader of the National Rally in the French National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 June 2022
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the National Assembly for Pas-de-Calais's 11th constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 2017
Preceded by	Philippe Kemel
President of the National Rally
In office 16 January 2011 – 12 September 2021[a]
Vice President	Alain Jamet Louis Aliot Marie-Christine Arnautu Jean-François Jalkh Florian Philippot Steeve Briois Jordan Bardella
Preceded by	Jean-Marie Le Pen
Succeeded by	Jordan Bardella
Chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group
In office 15 June 2015 – 19 June 2017 Serving with Marcel de Graaff
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Nicolas Bay
Member of the European Parliament
In office 14 July 2009 – 18 June 2017
Constituency	North-West France
In office 20 July 2004 – 13 July 2009
Constituency	Île-de-France
Regional Councillor
In office 4 January 2016 – 2 July 2021
Constituency	Hauts-de-France
In office 26 March 2010 – 13 December 2015
Constituency	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
In office 28 March 2004 – 21 March 2010
Constituency	Île-de-France
In office 21 March 1998 – 28 March 2004
Constituency	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Personal details
Born	Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen (1968-08-05) 5 August 1968 (age 57) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Political party	RN (since 1986)
Spouse(s)	Franck Chauffroy ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2000)​ Eric Lorio ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2006)​
Domestic partner	Louis Aliot (2009–2019)
Children	3
Parents	Jean-Marie Le Pen Pierrette Le Pen
Relatives	Marie-Caroline Le Pen (sister) Marion Maréchal (niece) Philippe Olivier (brother-in-law) Jordan Bardella (nephew-in-law) Vincenzo Sofo (nephew-in-law)
Alma mater	Panthéon-Assas University (LLM, DEA)
Signature

Le Pen unsuccessfully ran for President of France in the 2017 election, losing to Emmanuel Macron in the second round. She ran again in the 2022 election, advancing again to the second round against Macron and lost. In the legislative elections of 2024, she was elected to the French Parliament in the first round.^[3]

Biography

Marine Le Pen and her family has been the target of an assassination attempt in 1976 when she was 8 years old. She has studied law at Panthéon-Assas University and has become a barrister. She joined the National Front in 1998 and rose to prominence, being elected in several positions such as Member of the European Parliament in 2004, to finally succeed to her father at the head of the party in 2011.

Since that, Le Pen has led a movement of "de-demonisation of the National Front" (in reference to her father's nickname "The Devil of the Republic") in order to detoxify it and soften its image. She is considered to be far more republican and democratic than her controversial and nationalist father. Her success is also based on a renovated political speech and a renewed team. She got the best FN score at the 2012 French presidential election and her party have progressed in next elections until shoving the traditional bipartisan between right and left wings in France.

She has been ranked among the most influential people in the 2011 and 2015 Time 100.

2025 embezzlement conviction

On 31 March 2025, 25 National Rally members, including Le Pen, former MEPs, and their assistants were convicted of embezzlement for using European Parliament funds to fund National Rally staff. The sentences for several MEPs, including Le Pen, included bans on running for political office.^[4] This meant Le Pen could not run for president again in 2027.^[5]

Notes

1. Served as acting presidents Jean-François Jalkh, from 25 April 2017 to 28 April 2017, Steeve Briois, from 28 April 2017 to 15 May 2017, and Jordan Bardella, from 13 September 2021 to 5 November 2022.