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Marine Le Pen formally launched her campaign for the French presidency on Sunday, October 25, 2026, with a rally in Orléans, telling a hall of more than 8,500 supporters that the words that now spring to mind for France are ruin, decline, riots and chaos — and that she still believes in the French people and in France.
Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally and the frontrunner in next year's presidential election, chose Orléans, home to Joan of Arc, the 15th-century warrior heroine revered by nationalists as a symbol of patriotism and sovereignty, for her first campaign address. Supporters waved French flags and chanted "Marine, présidente!" as she took the stage at the party's two-day congress, held under high security with heightened police checks and body searches.
"We are not living through the end of the world but the end of a world, their world," Le Pen said of her political opponents, in a speech built around the theme of a national "Renaissance". She told supporters she was not aiming for a "revolution" but for "a real change in power" that would spark a renewal of the country. "We're not saying: It was better before," she said. "We say: It was good before and it will be better tomorrow."
Le Pen promised "zero tolerance" policing and said restoring security was the state's first duty. She pledged to restore border controls, automatically expel foreign criminals and crack down on gangs and drug traffickers, and said her "protective vision will benefit all".
National Rally President Jordan Bardella, addressing the crowd before Le Pen's speech, said: "France is plunging into real violence, which will become out of control if the state doesn't take control. The National Rally appears to be the only solution to allow the return of order and return of authority."
The rally came as France faces one of its most turbulent periods in years. Mass protests over living costs and inequality last weekend descended into looting and vandalism, and on Saturday, October 24, the Interior Ministry reported 410,000 people took part in 289 demonstrations across the country, with 110,000 in Paris. During those protests, 1,314 people were arrested and 53 police officers and gendarmes were injured, with 75 reports of arson and 24 shops damaged by looting. A week earlier, on October 17, 550,000 people had protested.
France was also reeling after a man randomly opened fire on passers-by in the Paris suburb of Trappes on Friday, killing one person and injuring five, including a girl of 12. President Emmanuel Macron deplored the incident as "a racist terrorist attack". Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said on Sunday that the National Rally carried "a heavy responsibility" for the attack because it had created "a mood … suggesting that we are being invaded, that there's a sort of great replacement."
The street turmoil has given Le Pen a boost in the polls. According to POLITICO's most recent Poll of Polls from mid-October, if the election were held today Le Pen would get 34% of the vote, compared to 16% for centre-right candidate Édouard Philippe and 15% for far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, with most polls having her winning a run-off round. An opinion poll published on Sunday put her on 32% to 33.5%, well ahead of Mélenchon on 17%, with surveys suggesting she would easily defeat him in a run-off ballot expected in early May. The presidential election is due in April 2027, and Macron, who has served two five-year terms, is constitutionally barred from seeking another consecutive term.
A senior National Rally official said Le Pen wanted to use the speech to cast herself in a presidential role and to reassure voters hesitant about supporting her. "People mostly agree with our ideas, but some still think it's a gamble to vote for us," the official said.