France’s far-right Front National (FN) has expelled its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, following a feud with daughter and party leader Marine Le Pen.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was honorary president, was dismissed after a three-hour extraordinary party congress.
He was initially suspended back in May, after he repeated his view that the Holocaust was “a detail of history”.
Marine Le Pen took over as leader in 2011 and has tried to steer the party away from its racist and anti-Semitic past.
The FN was founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972. He still holds a seat in the European Parliament and a post as a regional councilor in the south of France.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, 86, launched a legal challenge against his suspension, and on July 2, a court decided to overturn it.
The judge ruled that the correct procedure had not been followed and ordered that an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) be held to discuss his future.
That meeting took place on August 20, and Jean-Marie Le Pen has now been expelled.
His dismissal follows a series of remarks regarded as inflammatory and a feud with his daughter.
Earlier this year Jen-Marie Le Pen restated his characterization of the Holocaust as a “detail” – a view he first expressed in 1987 – and also said he had never considered France’s wartime collaborationist leader Philippe Petain a traitor.
Marine Le Pen has said in the past that her father should “no longer be able to speak in the name of the National Front”.
