French far-right leader Marine Le Pen formally launched her 2027 presidential campaign on Sunday in Orléans, vowing to "restore the rule of law" if elected to succeed President Emmanuel Macron, AFP reported. She addressed 8,500 supporters of her National Rally party after its congress.

Source: AFP via EuropeSays, Oct 26

"We are proposing for the country not a return to the past, but the dawn of a new era," the 58-year-old told the crowd, according to AFP. She chose Orléans, where Joan of Arc lifted an English siege in 1429 and who is revered by the far right as a symbol of national resistance.

Le Pen pledged to restore border controls, establish what she called double French and European borders, and automatically expel foreign criminals, AFP reported. Her deputy Jordan Bardella, who received a standing ovation, pledged a crackdown on the "ultra-left" and deportation of "delinquents and criminals".

Source: AnewZ, Oct 26

The launch came after more than 400,000 people marched in French cities on Saturday over the rising cost of living, with clashes, looting and more than 1,300 arrests, AFP reported. An Ipsos survey published Saturday suggested Le Pen would win 32 to 34 percent of first-round votes, while a poll reported by AnewZ put her on 32 percent to 33.5 percent, ahead of hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon on 17 percent.

Le Pen, who has run for the presidency three times, is campaigning despite an appeals court upholding a graft conviction against her, AFP reported. AnewZ reported she has lodged a final appeal with France's highest court, which could rule by early April 2027, before voting on April 18 and May 2. If she wins, she has vowed capped household energy bills, reduced taxes and trimming France's contribution to the European Union.