The far-right French politician was a leading candidate to become the country’s next president, but has now been barred from running for public office for five years.

The conviction of Marine Le Pen for embezzlement may well dash her chances of replacing Emmanuel Macron as French president in 2027, and leaves the far-right party that became the country’s main opposition under her stewardship facing an uncertain future.

It’s my political death they want,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen claimed in November – a prediction that proved prescient, though few took it seriously at the time.