The leader of France’s far right opposition, who is leading opinion polls, has been cleared to run in the country’s upcoming presidential elections after a court sentence for embezzlement was reduced. But she has said she still may not be able to.A court on Tuesday, Paris time, upheld a conviction against Marine Le Pen over a fake jobs scam at the European parliament. But it reduced the sentence imposed last year that barred the long-time politician from holding public office for five years. The previous sentence effectively meant she could not stand for election in 2027 when the current, and last, term of Emmanuel Macron ends. Tuesday’s change to her sentence now means Ms Le Pen would be allowed to run for president raising hopes in France’s far right that they can finally take the top job. However, Ms Le Pen, 57, must still wear an ankle tag which she has said could prevent her from campaigning and therefore standing. “If I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible,” she said last week. “I can’t depend on a magistrate to allow me to go to a rally,” she said. The Paris appeals court on. It banned her from office for 15 months and said one year had to be served with an electronic tag. Dating from March 2025, the public office ban is expected to have expired this year, clearing the way in principle for her to run in polls set for April and May next year. Ms Le Pen, who left the court on Tuesday with her head bowed, could still hand the candidacy to her 30-year-old lieutenant, Jordan Bardella, the leader of the Rassemblement National (National Rally) party. She is expected to announce her decision later on Tuesday.Her lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said he was “partially” happy with the verdict. “We note a considerable shift in the sentences, particularly with regards to the ban from office, which for us is an extremely important point,” he said. The first trial found Ms Le Pen, along with 24 former European politicians, assistants and accountants, as well as the anti-immigration party itself, guilty of operating a system from 2004 to 2016 to use European parliament funds to employ Rassemblement National (RN) staff in France. Ms Le Pen claimed her party was the victim of a “witch hunt”, and the judges received death threats. She, the party and 10 others appealed. During the appeal trial, she denied that the RN had a system to embezzle European parliament funds, and has said her party acted in “complete good faith”. But prosecutors allege that after she took over the party leadership in 2011 she “professionalised” a system to divert EU funds that was first introduced haphazardly by her late father, party co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. They had demanded the court maintain a five-year ban and sought a four-year term, with three years suspended.Recent opinion polls have largely suggested the far right will lead in the first round of next year’s vote, but are divided on the outcome of the second round. Many have shown slightly better results for Mr Bardella than Ms Le Pen, but their adversaries have inferred the veteran politician would be a fiercer opponent. “This woman is very intelligent, she’s not here by chance. And if she does also run for a fourth time, she won’t be an opponent we can sneer at,” hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has said. An opinion poll in May suggested Ms Le Pen could win the runoffs next year if she is allowed to compete. The Harris Interactive Toluna survey of more than 1700 registered voters projected her winning, against Mr Melenchon as well as centrist former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe. Other polls have, however, suggested Mr Philippe – who is also courting right-wing voters – could win a run-off against the far right.