Le Pen opens 2027 campaign in Orléans as France faces unrest and debt strain

Security lockdown in Orléans

Marine Le Pen opened her first campaign speech for the April 2027 presidential election on Sunday, 25 October, at a meeting in Orléans that the Rassemblement National billed as the start of her bid. The party congress had been running since Saturday, 24 October, and the speech took place in the Co'Met arena, which holds 10,000 people. Around 3,000 security personnel were deployed, the prefecture banned demonstrations across a wide perimeter, and public transport in the city was largely halted. Municipal buses were requisitioned to carry supporters from the station to the venue, while shops in the centre were boarded up. About a hundred anti-fascist activists gathered roughly four kilometres from the arena, outside the banned zone, chanting slogans against the party.

A pitch of order and renewal

More than 8,500 supporters packed a conference hall, many of them waving French flags, and cheered as Le Pen spoke for over an hour. Her speech returned to familiar themes: restoring public order, tightening borders and expelling undocumented migrants. She said she was not aiming for a 'revolution' but for 'a real change in power', and she vowed to restore the rule of law after looting and arson on the sidelines of last weekend's demonstrations.

We are going to restore the rule of law.

On energy, she said she would abolish the 2017 law that barred new hydrocarbon exploration permits and shale gas extraction, which she called 'the stupid Hulot law'. The 2017 law was named after Nicolas Hulot, a former environment minister. She also promised spending restraint, lower business taxes and no further rise in the retirement age. Speaking about the national mood, she told the crowd that the country was living through a turning point.

We're living not the end of the world but the end of a world, of their world.

Unrest, arrests and markets

On Saturday, 24 October, more than 400,000 people marched in French cities against the rising cost of living, and clashes broke out after groups of masked protesters split from the marches. Police made more than 1,300 arrests, and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez placed a large share of the clashes on 'ultra-left' extremists. In Orléans itself, between 13,000 and 26,000 people protested on Saturday, depending on the source. Trade unions and Yellow Vest groups said they would keep marching in the coming weeks. Looting and vandalism had already marked the weekend of 17 October, and France's borrowing costs rose above 5% in the week of 19 October 2026 for the first time since 2002.

A poll published on Saturday, 24 October, put Le Pen at 32% to 33.5%, ahead of Jean-Luc Melenchon on 17%. An Ifop survey for Sud Radio and Le Figaro gave her 36% in the first round, and an Odoxa Backbone poll for Le Figaro found 47% of respondents trusted her to restore order. Le Pen was convicted in July of embezzling European Parliament funds. RTE reports that an appeals court upheld that graft conviction, while the Irish Examiner reports she is appealing the verdict and could have to campaign wearing an ankle tag.

Congress and the Bardella disruption

Jordan Bardella was re-elected party president by an almost unanimous majority and was presented as Le Pen's choice for prime minister. Members of the Jewish student union Uejf interrupted his speech with a banner accusing the party of tolerating racism and antisemitism. A scuffle broke out in the stands, and security staff removed protesters, with footage showing two women being pulled outside as they tried to break free. La République du Centre counted four people removed, two men and two women. Bardella asked the hall to calm down and led the singing of the Marseillaise. The Uejf said activists had been attacked and grabbed by the neck, and announced legal action. Bardella denies accusations that he made antisemitic comments in his youth.