French must come first, far-right leader Le Pen says at election campaign launch

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a front runner in the French presidency race, signalled on Sunday that she would favour French citizens over foreigners, defending her long-held principle of “national priority”.

Speaking seven months before France’s presidential polls, Le Pen, 58, said that under her presidency French people would “have priority in their own country”, regardless of their skin colour, religion, or origin.

“We will guarantee all French citizens a natural and fair right, as is done in every country in the world,” she said in the first major campaign speech of her fourth presidential bid, speaking in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, the far-right’s stronghold.

French nationals would enjoy “more rights in France than others,” Le Pen said to around 2,000 supporters, with Jordan Bardella, head of her far-right National Rally party, seated in the front row.

Le Pen has her best-ever chance in 2027 to win the Elysee, with polls showing her well ahead in a first round of voting and posing at least a major threat to any rival in the second round.

The policy of “national priority” would apply to housing, Le Pen said, adding that French citizens should receive preferential access to social housing.