France's highest administrative court has dashed far-right leader Marine Le Pen's hopes of dodging a five-year ban from public office, upholding a March conviction for misusing party funds that could sideline her from the 2027 presidential race.

Le Pen, head of the National Rally party and a perennial contender, lost her Council of State appeal Wednesday against the immediate enforcement of the penalty, which stems from a Paris criminal court's finding of €4.1 million in embezzled European Parliament funds.

The ruling, which includes a four-year prison term (two suspended), a €100,000 fine and the office ban, takes effect right away despite ongoing appeals.

The court dismissed Le Pen's bid to tweak electoral laws for leniency, stating it lacked authority to rewrite statutes—only Parliament could amend the underlying rules on ineligibility for corruption or fraud convictions.

Le Pen's team decried the outcome as "politically motivated," vowing to fight on in lower courts while insisting the case reeks of establishment sabotage to clip her wings ahead of 2027.

National Rally president Jordan Bardella called it a "democratic scandal," rallying supporters with cries of judicial overreach. Party insiders eye a workaround: If Le Pen secures a presidential pardon or legislative tweak, she could still run, though odds look slim under President Emmanuel Macron's successor.

The saga traces to a 2015 probe into fictitious parliamentary jobs for RN aides, with Le Pen denying wrongdoing and framing it as targeted harassment. Prosecutors painted a pattern of systemic fraud, a narrative bolstered by the court's March verdict.

Le Pen, who placed second in 2017 and 2022, has surged in polls amid economic woes and immigration debates, making her potential absence a boon for Macron's centrists and left-wing rivals.

As France grapples with political flux—marked by recent no-confidence threats and pension reform rows—the decision ripples through a landscape where Le Pen's anti-EU, nationalist pitch has reshaped the right. Allies decry a "witch hunt," while critics see accountability for a leader whose rhetoric has stoked division.