French far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen | Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images Marine Le Pen announces bid for 2022 French presidential election The leader of the National Rally said she cannot let Macron ‘run alone.’

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday announced she would run for president in the 2022 presidential election, Le Figaro reported.

"I have considered this and my decision has been made," she said during a press conference in Nanterre.

"I am preparing for the presidential election," Le Pen said, adding that the final candidate decision would have to be made at a conference of her National Rally party. "Emmanuel Macron having himself launched the presidential campaign, I will not let him run alone," she warned.

The 2022 bid will be Le Pen's third attempt in a row to become president of France. In 2012 she did not make it to the final round, and in the 2017 run-off she was defeated by Macron by a large margin.

Le Pen, 51, was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2017 and became leader of the far-right National Rally in 2011 when it was still known as the Front National .

The party was founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen who unsuccessfully ran for president in the 2002 French election.