France: Marine le Pen barred for five years

03 Apr 2025
Marine le Pen has been barred from public office for five years due to EU fund embezzlement, jeopardising her 2027 presidential hopes. Though her four-year jail sentence (two years suspended) is pending appeal,…

France: Le Pen’s death highlights his daughter’s rise

09 Jan 2025
Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s far-right National Front (FN), has died at 96, leaving behind a divisive legacy. Known for incendiary rhetoric, he propelled anti-immigration nationalism into mainstream French politics. His controversies…

France: government collapses in no-confidence vote

05 Dec 2024
Prime minister Michel Barnier has been ousted in a historic no-confidence vote, leading to the collapse of his government. The motion follows his controversial use of special powers to pass a budget without…

France: manoeuvres ahead of second round of elections

05 Jul 2024
Opponents of Marine le Pen’s far-right party National Rally (RN) have intensified efforts to block it from power, with over 200 candidates withdrawing from run-off elections to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote. RN…

France: Macron’s gamble looks like backfiring

27 Jun 2024
France's political future is uncertain as Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) leads opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections on 30 June. Emmanuel Macron faces potential ‘cohabitation’ with an opposing prime minister,…

France: Macron says he will win snap election after European defeat

14 Jun 2024
Emmanuel Macron has said he intends to win the snap legislative election he called after his allies' significant defeat to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) in the European Parliament elections. He…

France: Macron shifts to the right

18 Jan 2024
On 16 January Emmanuel Macron made a notable shift to the political right during a televised press conference, signalling a change in his political stance. One week earlier, he had appointed Gabriel Attal…

France: legislative election upset

23 Jun 2022
France is in uncharted waters after President Emmanuel Macron lost his majority, with a large, shaky opposition bloc on the left and many more far-right lawmakers surging into the National Assembly. Just two…

France: files on all three presidential candidates

03 Feb 2017
As the French presidential race heats up, WikiLeaks archives contain potentially sensitive files on the three main contenders - the republican Francois Fillon, the right-wing hardliner Marine Le Pen, and the liberal Emmanuel…