Marine Le Pen: 10 things to know

Daughter to a notorious Holocaust-denying father, Marine Le Pen has said that the far-right National Front is no longer the fascist anti-Semitic organisation it once was.

The polls certainly show that many seem to agree – as she inches closer to becoming France's first female president of the French republic.

Despite claims of Le Pen creating a new version of the National Front, she is advocating the destruction of the European Union, preaching strong anti-immigration policies as well as attacking Muslims and comparing their presence in France to the Nazi occupation. At the same time her controversial father, Jean-Marie le Pen, remains honorary president of the party he founded in 1972.

Marine Le Pen has been through two divorces and is the mother of three. She said that Catholics would not vote for her because of her divorces.

Marine Le Pen lived and worked for most of her life with her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, known for his racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

For example, her father had once said that the holocaust is nothing but a small detail in World War II – and that he himself did not see any gas chambers.

Marine Le Pen took over her father's party in 2011. But she fell out with him publicly over his derogatory comments about Jews in World War II, and expelled him from the party.

Marine's father, Jean Marie Le Pen, remains the honorary president of the National Front Party to this day.

The presidential hopeful still shares her father's anti-immigration views. Le Pen has proposed slashing legal immigration from 200,000 to 10,000 entrants per year in France. She has also stated that immigrant access to public services should be limited.

Le Pen has promised to "destroy" the European Union. She has proposed a nationwide referendum which would decide the future of a "Frexit' from Europe.

Le Pen is also an admirer or Russia Vladimir Putin. She said that she would pursue closer ties with Russia and has been heavily criticised for taking a loan from a Russian bank during her campaign.

An ardent critic of globalisation and a strong supporter of political isolationism and economic nationalism, Le Pen has supported France's exit from NATO and the reinstatement of French Francs as a national currency.

After the US presidential elections, she stated that Donald Trump's win in America would help her achieves these objectives.

Le Pen has compared Muslims practising their religion in France to the ‘Nazi' occupation of France.

Le Pen has stated that she is against Muslim women wearing headscarves in public places, stating that "this is not France."

Positioning herself as the champion of blue-collar France, Le Pen has been successful in rallying support from lower-income citizens who fear the liberalisation of the labour market.

But will Le Pen's polarising statements become a key catalyst that propels her towards power? Or will they result in a second failed presidential bid for Jean Marie Le Pen's daughter?