French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denounced the court ruling that placed a five-year ban on her seeking public office for embezzlement

As the leader of the French far right and a member of its first family, Le Pen has proven herself a survivor. She lived through a bomb attack as a child, a very public falling-out with her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, and a public humiliation during her 2017 presidential debate against a young Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen's ban - after being found guilty of embezzling EU funds - means she would not be able to run in the 2027 French presidential election.

When a French court convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzling European Union funds – and took the unexpected step of barring her from running for office for the next five years – it not only upended French politics, it provoked an angry backlash from Ms. Le Pen’s allies around Europe, and among fellow travellers in Washington.

Macron opened a weekly meeting of French ministers by addressing the court’s decision, recalling “three things” government spokesperson Sophie Primas said: “that the judiciary is independent;” “that the threats made against judges are absolutely unbearable and intolerable;” and that “the law is the same for everyone.”