Jean Marie Le Pen was elected as National Front's first leader and continued to steer the party until he was ousted in 2011
Marine Le Pen made the party more
attractive to voters by orchestrating the expulsion of controversial
figures including her father
He
has been accused and convicted of xenophobia and anti-Semitism and in
2005, a Paris court found him to be 'inciting racial hatred' after he
attacked Muslims in an interview.
His daughter Marine, who leads the party today, started a policy of 'de-demonisation' to give National Front a broader appeal.
She tried to give it a softer image by orchestrating the expulsion of controversial figures including her father.
The
party has become increasingly popular since her appointment. It won
several municipalities in 2014 and became the first French party at the
2014 European elections with a quarter of the votes.
Several
pollsters predicted she would lead the first round of the 2017
Presidential elections and many analysts now consider her party one of
the biggest in France.
HOW NATIONAL FRONT ROSE FROM OUTSIDERS TO ELECTION CONTENDERS
National Front was founded in 1972 to unite several of France's national movements.
Marine
Le Pen's father, Jean Marie, 87, was elected as its first leader and
continued to steer the party until he was ousted in 2011.
While it has largely been relegated to the fringes, the party has recently emerged as the dominant force of French nationalism.
During
the 2002 presidential election, Jean Marie Le Pen became the first far
right candidate to compete in a 'run off' - the second round of voting
in an election.
He defeated a Socialist candidate in the first round but came a distant second to Jacques Chirac in the second.
Le Pen was nicknamed the 'Devil of the Republic' by many news outlets because of his controversial views and speeches.
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