Marine Le Pen says she’s stepping aside as leader of the far-right National Front party as she seeks the French presidency.
The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French election, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron.
“This evening I decided to take my leave of the presidency of the National Front,” she told TV channel France 2.
“I will be above partisan considerations.”
It is not clear if her decision will be permanent. She told France 2 that France is approaching a “decisive moment”.
Ms Le Pen took over the FN leadership from her father in January 2011 and helped her party secure big gains in regional elections.
She won 7.6 million votes on Sunday - the strongest ever result for a FN candidate, and 2.8 million more than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, won in 2002.
Her party wants to slash immigration, clamp down on free trade, and overturn France’s relationship with Europe. (more…)
Tags: french election, le pen, National front