, Columnist
Italy’s Populist Victor Faces the Crunch
Now Matteo Salvini has won, what will he do with all those votes?
Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister and leader of the League.
Photographer: Francesca Volpi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The European Parliament elections were hardly a triumph for the populist parties. But in Italy, the far-right nationalists were on a roll.
The League won 34.3 percent of the vote, doubling its share in last year’s general election. The 5 Star Movement collapsed to just 17.1 percent, but Brothers of Italy, a smaller far-right party, took 6.5 percent. Two in five voters chose to back Italy-first parties opposed to immigration and the EU’s economic and fiscal rules.