The race to succeed French President Emmanuel Macron has begun in earnest after far-right chief Marine Le Pen said she would run despite an embezzlement conviction, which she vowed to appeal.
Less than a year until the first-round vote in April 2027, the contest is drawing a crowded field of familiar political figures.
Le Pen announced she would run after an appeals court upheld a conviction for a fake-jobs scam at the European Parliament.
Initially sentenced to a five-year ban from public office, Le Pen got that reduced to a 15-month ban, backdated to March 2025 — paving the way for her to run.
The appeals court also ordered her to wear an electronic ankle tag, but she announced she would appeal the ruling to France's highest court, which would automatically suspend the sentence.
The 57-year-old is set to run for a fourth time, naming party leader Jordan Bardella as her prime minister-in-waiting.
"I think this partnership is a winning combination — a winning ticket, in a way," she said.
Fractured factions
Two former prime ministers, Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, are hoping to gain the backing of the centrist camp, with Philippe ahead.
Polls suggest 55-year-old Philippe, who leads his own Horizons party, could win the election in a runoff against the far right.
Philippe held his first rally on July 5, despite facing allegations of misuse of public funds in Le Havre.
Concerns have mounted over votes being split with Attal, 37, who held his campaign rally on May 30, calling for "overcoming old political divides".
Philippe suggested the field must be whittled down to avoid a second-round nightmare between the far right and the hard left.
On the divided left, the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, will be running for a fourth time.
The 74-year-old dominates the field on the left, ahead of Raphael Glucksmann, a 46-year-old member of the European parliament.
Meanwhile, the traditional right faces a crossroads.
Bruno Retailleau, the hardline leader of the Republicans and former interior minister, announced his candidacy in February, holding a major Paris rally on June 20 focused on cracking down on irregular migration.
