Death of Jean-Marie Le Pen reignites succession tussle between Marine and her niece
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Marion Maréchal, Jean-Marie’s grand-daughter, has positioned herself further to the right of her aunt Marine Le Pen, who has attempted to ‘de-demonise’ the National Rally. The death of Jean-Marie Le Pen looked likely to reignite rivalries in his family over who is the rightful heir to the far-right political dynasty, as the French government condemned as “simply shameful” crowds of people who took to the streets to celebrate the politician’s demise.
![[A placard written in French reads ‘The dirty racist is dead’.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4bd19f913540078852b3f1afb18198a3e23672ff/0_253_4500_2700/master/4500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Marine Le Pen, daughter of the National Rally co-founder and leader of the far-right party she has rebranded as the anti-immigration National Rally, on Wednesday paid tribute to her father, who died the previous day at the age of 96. “Many people he loves are waiting for him up there. Many people who love him are crying down here. Fair winds, fair seas, Papa,” she wrote in a post on X.
![[Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marion Maréchal.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a90a16d09b702c885465fef2c48e9a8fb2da5980/0_0_2988_1793/master/2988.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Her response contrasted with celebrations seen in Paris and other cities on Tuesday night, when thousands of people gathered with banners reading, among other things: “The dirty racist is dead.” “Happy new year,” some chanted, “Jean-Marie is dead.”.
![[Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughters.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e230f20b4584fdfd71d9dd7d56e9d085eeba2f2e/0_197_3000_1801/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Le Pen, who first ran in France’s presidential election in 1974 and made it through to the second round in 2002 in a political earthquake, was known for his unabashed racism and antisemitism. He repeatedly described the Holocaust as a “detail” of history and claimed African immigration would “submerge” the country. France’s 1998 World Cup-winning football team, he said, had too many “players of colour” to be French.
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