France’s far-Right National Rally (RN) would lead the presidential election if it were held today, despite an embezzlement conviction against Marine Le Pen, the party leader, according to a new survey.

Last week, Ms Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling EU funds to pay party staff. The Paris court barred her from running for office for five years, which would make her ineligible to run in the 2027 presidential election.

But the conviction has done little to sway public opinion. In several scenarios presented to respondents, in which either Ms Le Pen or her protégé, Jordan Bardella, were presented as the party’s presidential candidate, the RN led with between 31 per cent to 36 per cent of the vote in the first round.

Their nearest competitors include Edouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron’s former prime minister and former president François Hollande. The Elabe poll was conducted for BFMTV-La Tribune Dimanche.

“The RN is in prime position and in the same situation as the Formula 1 team that places two cars on the starting line. Plan B is working as well as Plan A,” said Bernard Sananès, president of Elabe. However, he cautioned that for the party to secure victory in the decisive second round, it would need to expand its current voter base.

The findings of the poll will likely energise the RN party, which has called on their supporters to gather in Paris this afternoon in solidarity Ms Le Pen, who has described the conviction as a “political decision”.