Politics

How Marine Le Pen transformed the Front National into a party for the populist era

Her father was a racist and a convicted holocaust denier who showed more interest in rabble-rousing than leading the Front National (FN) into power.

But Marine Le Pen, a former lawyer with a steely blue-eyed glare, is taking the far-right group in a decidedly different direction.

Once a neoliberal club for churlish business owners under Jean-Marie, who led the party for nearly four decades, Ms Le Pen has turned the FN into a movement for the populist era.

Her campaign of "de-démonisation" since clawing the leadership from her father in 2011 sought to soften the party's toxic image, and she is now being widely touted as a strong contender for the French presidency.