Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen’s career has been marked by her effort to distance her far-Right Front National (FN) party from its firebrand founder, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The 48-year-old lawyer became the FN president in 2011 and has worked tirelessly to try to “de-demonise” the party – attempting to purge it of its anti-Semitic and xenophobic elements – and make it mainstream.

Her party’s share of the vote has risen steadily. Late last month she temporarily stepped down as head of the party to widen her appeal ahead of the run-off

‘She wants to give French nationals priority in jobs, housing and welfare, and slap extra taxes on foreign workers’

vote, for which she has campaigned on an antiestablishment, anti-EU, anti-immigrant platform.

She wants to give French nationals priority in jobs, housing and welfare, slap extra taxes on foreign workers and imports, negotiate with the EU for return of “full sovereignty” for France, hold a vote on “Frexit” and possibly stop using the euro as the national currency. She also wants 15,000 more police and 40,000 more prison places.

Ms Le Pen, who survived a bomb attack on the family house when she was eight, is twice divorced and has three children from her first marriage. Her niece is Front National MP Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.