With the Le Pens, Family Always Comes First: Marine Le Pen Launches Campaign Surrounded by Relatives and Loyalists

Marine Le Pen relaunched her 2027 presidential campaign with a speech in Henin-Beaumont, the town in the Pas de Calais she long represented in the National Assembly and which remains a powerful symbol of the National Rally's local roots. The event came just days after a gathering of the party's lawmakers in Le Touquet, and had the feel of a homecoming for a candidate looking to regain momentum after several difficult weeks.

The choice of venue was no accident. Henin-Beaumont has been run for more than a decade by Mayor Steeve Briois, one of the party's longest serving loyalists, and the town embodies the strategy of local entrenchment the National Rally has patiently built in the former industrial strongholds of northern France. By choosing to deliver her first major campaign speech there, surrounded by relatives and party figures who have stood by her since her earliest days in politics, Le Pen sent a clear message that for the Le Pens, family loyalty and ties to the ground come before everything else.

The relaunch comes against a legal backdrop that continues to weigh heavily on the National Rally leader. Convicted of misusing European Parliament funds, she faces a five year ban from holding office, two years of house arrest under electronic monitoring, an additional two year suspended sentence, and a 100,000 euro fine, a ruling she has appealed. Le Pen now wears an electronic tag, an unprecedented image for a candidate for France's highest office, one she has chosen to embrace publicly rather than hide.

In the polls, however, Le Pen remains firmly out front. An OpinionWay survey for Les Echos, conducted September 8 and 9, credits her with 34 percent of first round voting intentions across every scenario tested. The past few weeks have nonetheless been marked by a string of missteps, against a backdrop of reported friction with party president Jordan Bardella, including over aid to Ukraine, as well as the circulation of a video in which a police officer and National Rally member made racist, sexist, and conspiracy laced remarks.

By choosing to relaunch her campaign surrounded by her oldest supporters, in the town where her political roots first took hold, Le Pen is seeking to regain control of the narrative eight months before the first round, leaning on loyalty and local ties rather than the national controversies that have recently unsettled her camp.

This account draws on reporting by France 24 and Euronews.