ROME
\nFar-right leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy\u2019s election, and is on course to become the country\u2019s first female prime minister.
\nMs Meloni is widely expected to form Italy\u2019s most right-wing government since World War Two.
\nThat will alarm much of Europe as Italy is the EU\u2019s third-biggest economy.
\nHowever, speaking after the vote, Ms Meloni said her Brothers of Italy party would \u201cgovern for everyone\u201d and would not betray people\u2019s trust.
\n\u201cItalians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy,\u201d she told reporters in Rome, holding up a sign saying \u201cThank you Italy\u201d.
\nShe is set to win 26% of the vote, based on provisional results, ahead of her closest rival Enrico Letta from the centre left.
\nMs Meloni\u2019s right-wing alliance – which also includes Matteo Salvini\u2019s far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi\u2019s centre-right Forza Italia – will take control of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with around 44% of the vote.
\nHer own party\u2019s dramatic success in the vote disguised the fact that her allies performed poorly, with Mr Salvini\u2019s party slipping below 9%, and Forza Italia even lower. Four years ago, Brothers of Italy won little more than 4% of the vote but this time benefited from staying out of the national unity government that collapsed in July.
\nAlthough Giorgia Meloni has worked hard to soften her image, emphasising her support for Ukraine and diluting anti-EU rhetoric, she leads a party rooted in a post-war movement that rose out of dictator Benito Mussolini\u2019s fascists.
\nEarlier this year she outlined her priorities in a raucous speech to Spain\u2019s far-right Vox party: \u201cYes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology… no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration… no to big international finance… no to the bureaucrats of Brussels!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROME Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy\u2019s election, and is on course to become the country\u2019s first female prime minister. Ms Meloni is widely expected to form Italy\u2019s most right-wing government since World War Two. That will alarm much of Europe as Italy is the EU\u2019s third-biggest economy. However, speaking after the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n