France's far-right National Front party ousts founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
France's National Front party expelled its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, on Thursday, following a war of words with his daughter — current party leader Marine Le Pen.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the party in 1972, was serving as honorary president when he was suspended in May for saying he saw the Holocaust as a "detail of history." He challenged the suspension in court, and in July a judge overturned it, saying proper procedure had not been followed. Thursday's decision to expel Le Pen came during an extraordinary general meeting that was ordered by the judge.
In 2011, Marine Le Pen took over as leader in order to "steer the party away from its racist and anti-Semitic past," the BBC reports. After her father made his remarks on the Holocaust, Marine Le Pen said he was attempting to "rescue himself from obscurity," and later said he should "no longer be able to speak in the name of the National Front."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 2 October 2023
The Week’s daily digest of the news agenda, published at 8am
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: October 2, 2023
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Exodus begins from Burning Man after desert mud trapped tens of thousands
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
American Airlines suing website that offers tickets via price loopholes
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Federal agencies investigating near miss between Southwest jet and private plane
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens dies at 70
Speed Read
By Brendan Morrow Published
-