Jean-Marie Le Pen was divisive and difficult – but he changed the shape of French politics
Jean-Marie Le Pen was variously loved and loathed – but he changed the shape of modern French politics.
His youth was shaped by war and he then lived a life of constant battles.
Le Pen’s political career, which was a very long one, was all about belligerence, anger, regret and scapegoats. In his world, everything that had gone wrong could be blamed on someone else.
French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has died
Mostly, his targets were either migrants or Muslims, or ideally migrants who were also Muslims. But he also berated bureaucrats, gay people and the Arab world in general.
He was convicted of inciting discrimination, downplayed the Holocaust as merely “a detail”, assaulted a fellow MP in the European Parliament and was eventually expelled from his own party – then led by his own daughter – for being an unapologetic extremist.
And yet it would be wrong to write Le Pen off as merely an agitator.
He was, instead, a catalyst within French politics – a lightning rod who edged far-right opinions back towards the mainstream. He maintained that France was for the French, a nationalist sentiment that resonates across so many countries to this day.
Le Pen was born in Brittany in 1928, the son of a fisherman and a seamstress. His father, Jean, was killed when his boat was blown up by a German mine during the Second World War but Le Pen went on to enjoy military life and served in Vietnam and Algeria. He bemoaned France’s withdrawal from its colonies and, as he saw it, the consequent loss of power and prestige.
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France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen dies
On his return to France, Le Pen moved into right-wing politics. He helped to form the National Front in 1972, uniting a disparate group of supporters. Emboldened, Le Pen ran for president in 1974, but ended up with less than 1% of the vote.
He had, however, started the process of establishing himself as a profoundly divisive figure.
In 1976, his apartment was bombed, blowing out a side of the building. Nobody was killed and the perpetrators were never caught.
But the violence of the attack against him seemed to energise Le Pen. And the following year, a wealthy supporter left him a new home – a mansion to the west of Paris built on the orders of Napoleon III. Le Pen, along with his three daughters – Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine – all lived there.
Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine Le Pen in 2012. Pic: Reuters
Their mother, Pierrette, separated from Le Pen because of his extreme views. He refused to pay alimony saying that “if she wants money, she can clean”. Instead, she accepted the offer to pose for semi-naked photos in Playboy magazine, wearing a maid’s outfit and pretending to clean. The magazine sold around 250,000 more copies than normal.
That crushing electoral defeat did not dissuade Le Pen. Instead, it was to be merely the first of five attempts to win the presidency. None would be successful but on one extraordinary occasion, in 2002, he came second in the first round of popular voting, with the backing of 4.8m voters.
It was a result that pushed Le Pen into a run-off against the sitting president, Jacques Chirac. Fearful of Le Pen’s extremism, Mr Chirac won backing from across the political spectrum and emerged with the biggest landslide in France’s modern history – 82% for him, 18% for Le Pen. Mr Chirac’s vote rose by nearly 20m votes from the first round – Le Pen’s tally went up by just 700,000.
Jean-Marie Le Pen. Pic: Reuters
The outcome said much about Le Pen. He had enthused many in the far-right with a rhetoric that seemed, at times, anti-establishment, racist, antisemitic, xenophobic and radical, but which also promised to do anything to protect France and the French.
Clearly, there were millions who would support it but, just as clearly, there were many more who would do anything to stop Le Pen, even if that might mean voting for the widely disliked Mr Chirac. “Rather a crook than a racist” was a familiar statement at the time.
The election marked the high-water mark for Le Pen’s career. In the coming years, his support fell. In 2011, he stood down as leader and was succeeded by his daughter Marine Le Pen.
Jean-Marie Le Pen with his daughter Marine. Pic: AP
Le Pen continued as an MEP, but his uncompromising views became ever more at odds with Ms Le Pen’s more emollient approach.
When Le Pen refused to apologise for yet another antisemitic comment, he was suspended, and then expelled, from the party he had founded. A little later, Ms Le Pen was to rename the party the Rassemblement National – the National Rally – to further distance herself from her father’s shadow.
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He started a new far-right party and continued campaigning, but by now he was a spent force. There was only space for one Le Pen, and Ms Le Pen had usurped him.
But her father’s influence lingered on. “His impact is still very great today,” said Dr Benjamin Biard, a political analyst specialising in the far right.
“It’s not just Jean-Marie Le Pen. There is the impact of Marine Le Pen who also changed the party, mainly in its structure, its symbols and the way it communicates. For everything else, it has remained generally faithful to the ideals of the National Front as Jean-Marie Le Pen designed it when the party was first founded.
“His ability, playing in his charisma and his way of communicating, has been very inspirational for other political organisations in other countries, particularly in Europe.”
Le Pen brought raw, unapologetic opinions that were, for many, unpalatable, offensive, divisive and sometimes even illegal, but which also helped to remould French politics.
He enjoyed the spotlight, spoke with passion, and enjoyed smiling, performing and shaking hands while the storm swirled around him. Le Pen was divisive and difficult, but he was also impossible to ignore.
From the moment they stepped from the Hamas vehicle, to be seen alive for the first time in 15 and a half months, the three hostages were clearly gaunt and in poor health.
Reports in Israel say they have lost up to 30% of their body weight and they are in a bad medical condition.
Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy looked much frailer than any of the hostages released previously during this phase of the ceasefire. Their time in captivity has obviously been punishing.
Like previous hostage releases, they were humiliatingly paraded on stage but this time interviewed in front of the crowd, in a propaganda stunt for Hamas.
Eli Sharabi said he was looking forward to seeing his wife Lianne and two daughters again – he didn’t know that all three of them had been killed on 7 October.
Pic: IDF
The hostages were paraded on stage before their release. Pic: Reuters
Pic: IDF
His brother Yossi was also taken hostage but died last year in Gaza.
Israeli media is reporting that Or Levi was unaware his wife had been killed at the Nova music festival.
It has all caused a real feeling of shock and anger in Israel tonight and a new urgency to get all of the hostages home as quickly as possible.
Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted angrily, promising a response. The Israeli president has described it as a crime against humanity and the IDF point man for the hostages has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Any action by the Israeli government could threaten the ceasefire and therefore the release of more hostages. As the hostage families forum and Israel’s president have said, the most important thing is freeing all the captives and getting them home.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners are also returning home looking painfully thin and with stories of being beaten in detention. One prisoner had to be carried off the Red Cross bus by a medic from the Palestinian Red Crescent earlier today.
The Palestinian prisoners released today say they were forced to watch a video of the destruction of Gaza before they were freed.
But there has been a shift in tone and mood after today’s events and it’s unclear what happens next.
World
Hostage told Hamas crowd he hoped to see wife and daughters after release – suggesting he didn’t know they were killed on 7 October
A released Israeli hostage told a Hamas crowd he hoped to see his wife and daughters after his release – suggesting he did not know they had been killed on 7 October.
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy were the latest hostages freed this morning in front of a crowd of heavily armed fighters.
Both Mr Ami, 56, and Mr Sharabi, 52, were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October attack. Mr Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival.
It was not known if Mr Sharabi was aware his wife and children had been killed by Hamas over a year ago. His Bristol-born wife Lianne Sharabi, along with their children 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed while Mr Sharabi and his brother Yossi were taken hostage.
Yossi was later killed while in captivity.
Mr Sharabi was paraded on a podium by armed Hamas personnel and interviewed before his release earlier today.
In one of his answers, which was clearly given under duress, he said he was hoping to see his wife and daughters very soon, according to translations provided by our US partner NBC News.
Eli Sharabi. Pic: Reuters
Mr Sharabi also told the crowd he was aware of his brother’s death and said he was “very angry” with the Israeli government.
All three hostages made similar critical comments about Israel while on stage with the armed men.
The comments came as Stephen Brisley, Mr Sharabi’s brother-in-law, told Sky News presenter Anna Jones this morning that he wasn’t sure if he had found out about his family’s fate.
Israeli hostages were paraded on stage before being released by Hamas. Pic: Reuters
“All the way through this, we’ve wondered whether what’s kept him going is the prospect of being reunited with Lianne and the girls,” he said.
He described his brother-in-law as looking “skinny” and “gaunt”.
“You could see how skinny he is, how pale he is. You wonder how much daylight he’s seen – very gaunt face,” he said.
“I think what struck me the most is that Eli has a very happy face, he smiles with his whole face and smiles with his eyes and it was the lack of light in his eyes that I think is one of the most distressing parts of it.”
The hostages were reunited with family. Pic: IDF
Israeli captive, Ohad Ben Ami waves as he is escorted by Hamas fighters. Pic: AP
Photos after his release showed Mr Sharabi reuniting with his wider family.
Gaza ceasefire latest: Live updates as Hamas releases three Israeli hostages
Israeli captive Or Levy after his release. Pic: AP
Mr Brisley added: “You don’t know what the last 491 days have done to him, but it’s clearly had an incredible impact on him, and it was written all over his face.”
Masked and armed Hamas fighters during the handover. Pic: AP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will not accept the shocking scenes that we saw today.”
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy (L-R). Pics: Bring Them Home Now
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In return for the captives’ release, 183 Palestinian prisoners were released – some of which were convicted of being involved in attacks that killed dozens of people.
A bus carrying several dozen Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s Ofer prison arrived in the occupied West Bank, where their families and friends were waiting.
A Palestinian prisoner is checked by medical personnel after being released from an Israeli prison as a result of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Pic: AP
Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said some of the prisoners also looked to be in a “very bad condition”.
And in a statement later on Saturday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “dismayed to see his (Mr Sharabi’s) frail condition and the circumstances of his release”.
He added: “Having met his relatives I appreciate the deep pain they have endured and my thoughts are with them.
“We must continue to see all the hostages freed – these people were ripped away from their lives in the most brutal circumstances and held in appalling conditions.
The ceasefire must hold and all efforts need to focus on full implementation of the remaining phases. This includes the return of further hostages, the continued increase of aid into Gaza and securing lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Some 18 Israeli hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January.
Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in an initial stage in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Negotiations on a second phase of the deal began this week. It is aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation to end the war.
It is feared US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza so the US could take over could complicate the second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas’s cross-border attack into Israel saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
Since then Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
World
Trump-style victory the aim for Europe’s far-right as leaders praise US president at Madrid conference
Europe’s far-right political leaders have praised Donald Trump and said they wanted to “Make Europe Great Again” as they met in Madrid.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italy’s deputy premier Matteo Salvini, French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen and Netherlands’ PVV party founder Geert Wilders were among those at the gathering organised by Spanish far-right party, Vox.
Referring to what he called “the Trump tornado”, Mr Orban said the Republican candidate’s victory in November’s US presidential election and subsequent return to the White House had “changed the world in just a few weeks… yesterday we were heretics, today we’re mainstream”.
The far-right leaders met in Madrid. Pic: Reuters
Cheered by around 2,000 supporters waving Spanish flags, speakers railed against frequent right-wing targets such as immigration, leftists, migrant rescue NGOs, and “wokeism”.
The names of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were jeered loudly.
There were regular calls for a new “Reconquista”, a reference to the Medieval re-conquest of Muslim-controlled parts of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian kingdoms.
As for Mr Trump’s threat to place high tariffs on European imports, Mr Salvini and Vox president Santiago Abascal downplayed the danger and said EU taxes, such as the Green Deal, and regulations are a bigger risk to Europe’s prosperity.
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Germany’s election later this month represented a “historic opportunity”, Mr Salvini said, as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is polling in second place, behind centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s Union bloc.
Mr Salvini said Germany, which he called “the engine of Europe” had “come to a halt in the face of the most disastrous government [led by Olaf Scholz] of the post-war period”.
The opening speech, by former Estonian finance minister Martin Helme was interrupted by a topless activist from feminist group Femen chanting “not one step back against fascism” in Spanish before she was ejected.
Defending Europe’s borders against illegal immigration was another topic touched on by every speaker at the two-day event, even though irregular border crossings into the European Union fell sharply in 2024, according to data collected by the bloc’s border control agency Frontex.
Ms Le Pen said the European leaders at the gathering, whose Patriots for Europe group has 84 seats in the European Parliament, “are the only ones that can talk with the new Trump administration”.
The group polled a combined 19 million votes in May’s European elections, but some of the EU’s most influential parties in that camp – such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, AfD and Poland’s Law and Justice – have refused to join.
Spain’s ruling Socialist Party said in a statement it rejected what it described as a “coven of ultras”, adding: “They won’t succeed in making their black-and-white world view prevail in this country”.
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