Marine Le Pen launches her 2027 presidential campaign in northern France

Campaign begins in a party stronghold

Marine Le Pen has relaunched her campaign for France's 2027 presidential election with a major address in Hénin-Beaumont, her political stronghold in the country's north. The event followed a weekend gathering of National Rally lawmakers in Le Touquet and marks a shift from preliminary positioning toward an overt national campaign. Euronews reported the launch on September 13 and identified Le Pen as the far-right party's presidential candidate.

She begins from a strong polling position but with unresolved internal questions. An OpinionWay survey conducted on September 8 and 9 put her at 34 percent in hypothetical first-round scenarios, according to Euronews. Polls this far ahead are not forecasts, but that level of support makes the organisation of the National Rally leadership unusually consequential: party president Jordan Bardella is widely presented as a prospective prime minister, while also developing his own distinct political profile.

Policy divisions behind the choreography

Bardella denies reports of a rift and has publicly emphasised his support for Le Pen. Even so, differences have surfaced over economic policy, particularly pensions, and over whether a broad ban on veils in public should become a central campaign issue. Le Pen has traditionally favoured a more protectionist economic programme, whereas Bardella has projected a more market-oriented approach and has questioned the sustainability of the current pension system.

Foreign policy is another pressure point. Senior National Rally figures have argued that France should stop financing weapons for Ukraine, prompting opponents to accuse the party of weakening European security and benefiting Moscow. The dispute matters beyond campaign messaging because France remains a major European military and diplomatic actor. Euronews also places the launch against controversy involving a police officer who volunteered with the party's security operation and was expelled after racist, sexist and conspiratorial remarks surfaced.

The Élysée's April 2026 Council of Ministers record confirms that the government has already updated administrative rules for the next presidential election, including campaign-account procedures and voting arrangements for French citizens abroad. Under France's constitutional system, the president is chosen by direct universal suffrage, with a runoff if nobody wins an absolute majority in the first round. What follows is a contest over whether Le Pen can preserve party unity while defining positions on pensions, religious policy and Ukraine before opponents consolidate around an alternative.