France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen has described her niece’s decision not to support her presidential campaign as “brutal, violent and painful”. Marion Maréchal, who dropped Le Pen from her name in 2018, said she was considering whether to transfer her allegiance to Éric Zemmour, who is even further to the right. In an interview with Le Parisien, Maréchal, who at 22 became the youngest MP in the Assemblée Nationale in 2012, before stepping down in 2017, said her aunt’s “incessant ideological and programme changes” showed a “lack of logic and vision”. On potentially backing Zemmour, she said: “I’m thinking about it. I haven’t decided. If I support Éric, [it] would not just be a question of passing by and saying hello. It would mean returning to politics. It’s a real life choice, a heavy decision.” On Friday Marine Le Pen, who has spearheaded efforts to “de-demonise” her party, now called National Rally (RN – Rassemblement National), appeared shocked by Maréchal’s decision, describing it as a personal as well as a political blow. “I have a special relationship with Marion because I raised her with my sister during the first few years of her life, so obviously it’s brutal and violent … it’s difficult for me,” she told CNEWS television. She also expressed her “incomprehension” of the politics behind the decision. “I didn’t really expect it. She [Maréchal] indicated she would support the candidate that is best placed to reach the second round. Undoubtedly, I am better placed than Éric Zemmour is today.” A rift within the family has been widening for more than a decade. After Marine Le Pen took control of what was then the Front National in 2011, she fell out with her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party founder, and later expelled him. In recent weeks she has lost two former close allies to Zemmour. In 2017 Maréchal said she was leaving politics to set up a private university teaching conservative political studies in Lyon. Opinion polls suggest Emmanuel Macron, who has not yet declared he will stand but is expected to seek re-election, will win through to the second round to face either Le Pen or the mainstream-right Les Républicains candidate, Valérie Pécresse. Last week Le Pen described Zemmour’s anti-migration programme as “extremely brutal”. “Does he want to be in the second round – I don’t believe so – or is he in fact a stepping stone to allow Valérie Pécresse to be in the second round in place of Marine Le Pen?” she said.