Le Pen comeback revives French far right’s biggest question: Can she win? – POLITICO

PARIS — Marine Le Pen’s muted legal victory Tuesday leaves the far-right leader battered and bruised, but it also burnishes her reputation as France’s ultimate political survivor.

In an unexpected verdict, a three-judge panel upheld her conviction for embezzlement but reduced her five-year ban on running for office. The judges also sentenced her to a year of house arrest, which she said on Tuesday evening she would appeal.

Le Pen’s announcement Tuesday that she will stand as her party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election anyway means Jordan Bardella, the 30-year-old protégé she had said would replace her, will now campaign alongside her as her prospective prime minister.