I’m not ready to turn tail on politics, says Le Pen
MARINE LE PEN yesterday confirmed she had passed a diploma to become a professional cat breeder, but the French far-right leader – who recent polls suggest may crash out of next year’s presidential election – denied the move was an escape route from politics.
Instead, Ms Le Pen, 53, predicted that her “passion” for felines, which has led aides to nickname her “cat mother”, would make her the first French president to bring her six cats with her to the Elysée Palace.
She could also envision bringing in Eric Zemmour as “prime minister”, said Ms Le Pen, who has been on the back foot since a poll last week suggested the rival nationalist would knock her out in the first round should he run, before going on to lose to incumbent Emmanuel Macron.
Until now, dogs have been the pet choice of French presidents. Mr Macron has a black labrador-griffon cross called Nemo, Nicolas Sarkozy had a Chihuahua called Big and Jacques Chirac a Maltese called Sumo, which he banished after it became so depressed about leaving the presidential palace that it routinely savaged its master.
Ms Le Pen’s love of cats is well documented. Last year, it was revealed that she was posting dozens of pictures of her pets on a private Instagram account called Les Chats Masqués (The Masked Cats). She changed the name to The Unmasked Cats once the secret was out.
But she said she had taken her passion to the next stage during lockdown by passing a diploma allowing her to work with domestic animals. “I have become a cat breeder,” she told RTL radio. “It’s a passion. One can do politics while having a profession, or turn a passion into a profession,” she said.
She has previously confessed that “I could stop everything and do something else. Like breed cats”. However, yesterday she said she had no intention of dropping the far-right family tradition, saying: “If I don’t get elected, I will continue to do politics and will still have my cats.”
She said she remained “convinced I’m the best-placed” to beat Mr Macron, the favourite. “I can and will win this presidential election,” she added. A second Harris Interactive poll on Wednesday placed Mr Zemmour ahead of her on 17 to 18 per cent with Ms Le Pen on 15 to 16 per cent – a whisker ahead of Right-wing hopeful Xavier Bertrand.
Mr Macron was polling to win 24 to 28 per cent in round one, before going on to beat Mr Zemmour by 57 per cent to 43. However, a separate BVA poll yesterday placed Ms Le Pen well ahead of Mr Zemmour, on 16.5 per cent to his 13.5 per cent.
Leftist leader Jean-luc Mélenchon was on 11 per cent, while Green candidate Yannick Jado was on seven to eight per cent and Socialist hopeful Anne Hidalgo, who is mayor of Paris, trailed on just five per cent.
Ms Le Pen said Mr Zemmour “has absolutely no desire to be [my] prime minister” but that on immigration and crime, “we have come to the same conclusion and thus will be bound at one point or another to join forces”.
‘If I don’t get elected, I will continue to do politics and will still have my cats’