Marine Le Pen is an icon of France's nationalist right: one of the country's best-known and most popular political figures - with her France First, anti-woke, anti-migration agenda. Far-right leaders,

The ban is the key issue for Le Pen’s political career, rather than the prison sentence or the fine, because under the French legal system a person is considered innocent until all their appeals are exhausted. Two years of the sentence could be served under surveillance wearing an ankle bracelet, while the two further years are suspended.

A court’s conviction of the far-right leader for embezzlement and its ban on her running for office have set off a new crisis for France.