Part 2: Once dismissed as beyond the pale of acceptable opinion, French nationalists and populists are now key contenders
The battle for the Élysée is still nine months away but elements of the campaign are already being plotted on the trains between Strasbourg and Brussels.
As French presidential hopefuls assemble their teams for what could be the most consequential vote in generations, some members of the European Parliament are emerging as key strategists, campaign architects and political combatants in their own right.
On the French far right, confidence is running high. Polls consistently suggest that a candidate from the Rassemblement National (RN) is all but certain to reach the second round of the 2027 presidential election. The bigger question is who that candidate will be.
Marine Le Pen remains the movement’s leader, but her political future hinges on the outcome of her appeal against a conviction for embezzlement that carries a period of ineligibility for elected office that would bar her from running in April 2027.
