The verdict is in: the National Rally (NR) and its leader, Marine Le Pen, have been found to have employed fictitious European parliament assistants between 2004 and 2016. The fraudulent scheme enabled the misappropriation of around €2.9m in European funds, and Le Pen has now been barred from holding public office for five years. Could this mark the end for the National Rally? Highly unlikely – and the reason lies in the party’s strategy.

During the trial, Le Pen deliberately maintained silence in response to the allegations – a tactic some outlets dismissed as evidence of a weak defence, even questioning her credibility. Yet this quiet is far from a sign of weakness; it reflects a long-established approach that consistently shuns conventional manoeuvres in favour of an intentionally unpredictable stance.

The origins of this strategy date back to 2011, when she set in motion the “de-demonisation” of the NR. This was not just an exercise in recalibrating the party’s image and rhetoric; it was a move to sever ties with the extremist legacy that had long marred her family’s name. Her rebranding transformed the Front National into the National Rally and charted a new course for the party.

This process also involved a purge of party members who openly endorsed the Vichy regime – a purge so uncompromising that it resulted in the banishment of her own father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. By casting him aside as a cornerstone of her de-demonisation campaign, she demonstrated a readiness to make brutal sacrifices. Now, she may well have to repeat this tactic, sacrificing herself to clear the........

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