Marine Le Pen re-elected as leader of French far-right party
Marine Le Pen, 52, was on Sunday re-elected as leader of the far-right Rassemblement National party, the former Front National, during its congress in the southern town of Perpignan, setting in train her 2022 presidential election bid.
MarineMarine Le Pen on Sunday won re-election as head of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) at the party's congress where she sought new impetus for her 2022 presidential bid after the RN's poor performance in regional polls, reports The Times of Israel.
The RN, which had been tipped for strong gains in last month’s regional elections, was left floundering after failing to win any of the 13 regions in mainland France.
The results raised questions about Le Pen’s strategy of trying to detoxify her party’s brand and position it as a more mainstream right-wing force.
But she faced no challenge for the party leadership, with her quest for a fourth term winning the backing of 98.35 percent of members in an online and postal ballot, RN announced on the second day of its congress in the southern city of Perpignan.
The 52-year-old trained lawyer is expected to use a keynote address later Sunday to try and rally the troops ahead of the presidential vote.
