Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

is president of the

Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...

(FN) political party since 16 January 2011. She ran for President of France in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, garnering 17.90% of electorate placing her third in the balloting that was conducted on April 22, 2012.

Campaign trail

Announcement and launching

During the 2010 internal campaign for the FN leadership, Marine Le Pen explained why the leadership of the party and the candidature for the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

must not be dissociated: thus the next FN leader will run in the 2012 presidential election. On 16 May 2011, her presidential candidacy was unanimously validated by the FN Executive Committee. On 10 and 11 September 2011, she made her political comeback with the title "the voice of people, the spirit of France" in the

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

in Nice. Her political comeback, which was concluded by a closing speech of seventy minutes, prefigured the launching of her presidential campaign. During a press conference held in Nanterre on 6 October 2011, she officially unveiled the line-up of her presidential campaign team.

Issues and statements

Marine Le Pen discours banquet des Mille16 louis-maitrier Paris XV 10-2011

The main topics of her presidential campaign are: economy and social, immigration and security,

reindustrialisation Reindustrialization is the economic, social, and political process of organizing national resources for the purpose of re-establishing industries. The process proceeds as a result of a need to reinvigorate national economies. Interpretations China, ...

and "strong state," fight against corruption and public morality, education and culture, family and health, international politics. Marine Le Pen and her advisers regularly hold thematic press conferences and interventions on varied topical issues. On 19 November 2011, she espoused the main thematic issues of her presidential project: sovereign people and democracy, Europe, reindustrialization and strong state, family and education, immigration and assimilation versus communitarianism, geopolitics and international politics. During a press conference held on 12 January 2012, she presented in detail the assessment of her presidential project and a plan of debt paydown of France. During a press conference held on 1 February 2012, she presented an outline of her presidential project for the

overseas departments and territories of France Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolon ...

Meetings and travels

France

On 17 September 2011, 1,200 people from Western France have taken part in her first meeting held in a castle in Vaiges, Mayenne. On 21 September 2011, she visited during two hours the

Rungis International Market The Rungis International Market (french: Marché International de Rungis) is the principal market of Paris, mainly for food and horticultural products, located in the commune of Rungis, in the southern suburbs. It is the second largest wholesa ...

, where she met workers and professionals disillusioned with

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

's politics. On that very day, she met farmers in

Fosses Fosses () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Heraldic Education Schools in Fosses:Val-d'Oise and held a press conference about

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

issues. On 17 October 2011, she held a press conference in front of the Dexia headquarters in

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...

. On 19 October 2011, she visited in Paris the 2011 Milipol, a security technology sales exhibition. On 5 January 2012, she presented her wishes to the press. On 11 December 2011, she held her first presidential meeting in Metz, Moselle, Lorraine. From early January 2012, she held weekly meetings in major French cities: Saint-Denis,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

Bordeaux,

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, Toulouse.

Italy

In October 2011, Marine Le Pen visited Italy for three days. On 20 October 2011, she had dinner in Verona with forty local contractors including Daniela Santanché, undersecretary in charge of the implementation of the programme in the

Berlusconi IV Cabinet The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th government of Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy of the Italian Re ...

. On 21 October 2011, she met in Verona municipal representatives members of The Right. Later on that very day, she discussed at the

Milan Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...

topical issues ( Arab Spring, immigration, European Union) with Daniela Santanché. On 22 October 2011, she signed in Rome the Italian translation of her autobiography ''À contre flots'' for the assistance gathered in the Ferrajoli palace.

Endorsements

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, Gilbert Collard rallied to her presidential candidacy and accepted the presidency of her support committee. During the convention in Nice on 10 September 2011, she has received the support of

Paul-Marie Coûteaux Paul-Marie Coûteaux (born 31 July 1956, in Paris) is a French politician and author. He served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009 for the Movement for France, and since 2022 has been a member of Reconquête. Early life P ...

, a former ''

souverainiste Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

. A former general director of the Renseignements Généraux, Yves Bertrand wrote an expression of sympathy in a French magazine. Although Bertrand said that "Marine Le Pen is respectable, republican and friendly", he will not join her support committee. Other personalities could further support her candidacy and join her presidential committee. Le Pen also received support from actress Brigitte Bardot. On 2 February 2012, Marine Le Pen's support committee was officially presented during a press conference in Paris.

References

External links

2012 presidential campaign's website