Marine Le Pen launches 2027 presidential campaign at Orléans rally

Mixed · 2Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), officially launched her campaign for the French presidential election on Sunday 25 October 2026 at a rally at the Zénith arena in Orléans. 1 2 Mixed · 3Organisers put attendance at 8,500 supporters; the event's theme was "Renaissance", and Le Pen said it was not about nostalgia or a return to the past. 3 4 2 Mixed · 2She pledged to "restore the rule of law", accusing President Emmanuel Macron's government of being soft on violent protesters and lacking authority, and promised tougher immigration measures, including "double borders" and making French nationality "a privilege that is either inherited or earned". 2 4

Mixed · 2The launch followed weeks of unrest: student protests that began in mid-September grew into nationwide demonstrations over the cost of living, with looting and arson on the fringes. Al Jazeera reported more than 2,000 arrests on 17 October, while AFP reported more than 400,000 marchers and over 1,300 arrests on Saturday 24 October, when Interior Minister Laurent Nunez blamed much of the violence on "ultra-left" extremists. 3 2 Mixed · 3Le Pen is described as the poll frontrunner; an Ipsos survey published Saturday suggested she would win 32-34 percent of first-round votes in the two-round election, which begins in April. 2 4 3 Right · 1AFP noted she is running, aged 58 and for the fourth time, despite an appeals court upholding a graft conviction against her. 2

Mixed · 2Her deputy Jordan Bardella, 31, spoke first, pledging a crackdown on the "ultra-left", lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 16 and deporting "delinquents and criminals"; the slogan was "Marine president – a Bardella government". 2 3 Mixed · 3Bardella's speech was briefly interrupted by members of a Jewish student union with a banner referencing a media report that he had deleted antisemitic messages from an old Facebook account; Mediapart had published private messages allegedly written by him as a teenager, and he has denied the allegations and sued. 2 3 4 Centre · 1Four Mediapart journalists were ejected from the venue before being allowed back later, according to France 24. 4

Mixed · 2Security was heavy: Al Jazeera reported police checks on trains from Paris, shuttered businesses and suspended public transport in Orléans, and about 3,000 police deployed a day earlier when anti-RN protesters marched; France 24 cited over ten thousand demonstrators outside the venue. 3 4 Mixed · 2Orléans carries symbolic weight for the far right as the city Joan of Arc relieved from an English siege in 1429, and Al Jazeera says Le Pen has drawn parallels between Joan's mission and her ambitions. 3 2 Mixed · 2On other policies, AFP says Le Pen promises capped household energy bills, lower taxes and a smaller French contribution to the EU, and is critical of NATO and of support for Ukraine; Al Jazeera adds a referendum on EU law's primacy over migration policy and an annual 11-billion-euro cut, and says the party no longer advocates leaving the euro or "Frexit". 2 3

Right · 1Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was due to hold talks with high school student organisations on Monday, and unions and Yellow Vest protesters have vowed to continue marching. 2