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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
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.
Read more from Sky News:
At least 95 people killed in Tibet earthquake
Nine miners trapped in flooded mine in India
Australian PM says reserving beach spots is ‘not on’
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.
Russia has launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight, after Moscow itself was targeted.
Amid flailing peace talks, the Kremlin’s nightly attacks on Ukraine continued.
Ukraine war – follow the latest updates
A large-scale Russian attack through the night into Sunday injured at least 11 in Kyiv and killed three people in towns surrounding the capital.
There were attacks elsewhere as well, including drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.
An apartment building destroyed after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv. Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
‘Massive’ attack
In Kyiv, the city’s administration warned “the night will be difficult”, as people were urged to remain in shelters.
The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a “massive” attack.
He said: “Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters!”
It came after at least 15 people were injured in attacks the night prior.
Russia claimed it also faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday, and that it intercepted and destroyed around 100 of them near Moscow and across Russia’s central and southern regions.
A municipality worker cleans up after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Russia ‘dragging out the war’
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of cooperation in the war.
Amid the most recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his calls for sanctions on Russia.
Russia “fills each day with horror and murder” and is “simply dragging out the war”, he said.
A resident looks at an apartment building that was damaged in a Russian drone strike. Pic: Reuters
“All of this demands a response – a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end,” Mr Zelenskyy added.
Every day “gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia”, he said, and each day without pressure proves the “war will continue”.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is ready for “any form of diplomacy that delivers real results”.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
Read more:
Mum of emaciated baby in Gaza says ‘I don’t want to lose her’
Dad wrongly pronounced dead in Israeli bombing killed in airstrike
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Read more on Sky News:
Shooting suspect ‘fired repeatedly’
Huge fire declared major incident
Has there been a rise in NHS appointments?
The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway