Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds, in a politically explosive ruling that has shattered her hopes of winning France’s 2027 presidential election.

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.

It’s my political death they want,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen claimed in November – a prediction that proved prescient, though few took it seriously at the time.

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.

A French court found her and eight other former European lawmakers guilty of embezzling public funds. The verdict is a hammer blow to Le Pen's presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.

The sentence made the far-right leader ineligible for five years, excluding her from the 2027 election unless she can secure a more favorable outcome on appeal.

France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in elections for five years.

She was found guilty of misappropriating EU funds. The sentence will stop her running for president in 2027 unless she successfully appeals.

The judge who barred far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running in France's 2027 presidential election is under police protection after facing death threats and having her home address shared online,