French far-right leader Marine le Pen set to LOSE presidential election, father warns
THE founder of the French National Front party has warned it could lose next year’s presidential race if Marine le Pen fails to unify the shattered party.
The party held separate May Day rallies amid claims there are 'two National Fronts'
Jean-Marie le Pen, father of Marine, issued the stark warning at a rally in place of the Eurosceptic party’s traditional May Day parade.
He said: “Since no signal of reconciliation has been put out, I say today with gravity and sadness that the National Front president will be defeated in the second round, perhaps even the first.”
But the 87-year-old denied the party had been split in two.
Party founder Jean-Marie le Pen at his National Front May Day rally
He said: “It's the famous French diversity.”
The divisions in the party were laid bare when the anti-immigration party’s traditional May Day parade was cancelled.
Two separate rallies took place instead, with the younger and elder le Pens laying wreaths at separate statues of Joan of Arc.
Ms le Pen votes in regional elections earlier this year
In a speech, Ms le Pen vowed "recover the abandoned instruments of sovereignty" by rejecting the European project.
Jean-Marie le Pen was expelled from the National Front in 2015 after repeating his view that the Holocaust was a “detail of history”.
He led the party for nearly 40 years since it was formed in 1972.
His daughter Marine took over in 2011 and set about "cleaning up" the party's image.
Brexit campaigners last night reacted with fury after "unhelpful" Ms le Pen suggested she would visit the UK to back the 'Out' campaign.
Winner of the Austrian presidential election first round, Norbert Hofer
The 47-year-old has previously sparked anger by comparing Muslims praying in streets to the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War.
Elsewhere in Europe, the European Union was dealt a stinging blow earlier this month after the Austrian Freedom Party stormed to victory in the first round of presidential elections.