The Le Pen family feud goes to the heart of what the Front National stands for

On 13 April, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the Front National, announced that he would no longer be putting himself forward as a candidate for the party in French regional elections to be held later this year. The announcement came amid a much publicised row between Jean-Marie and his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who currently leads the party. Patrick F. Merle writes that while the feud has been developing for some time, the way in which Marine Le Pen chooses to deal with the fallout will have an impact on the party’s future development ahead of the next French presidential election in 2017.