Only in Italy could the people countenance the possibility of a comedian holding the reins of power.

From Mussolini to Berlusconi and endlessly changing governments of every hue in between, the country has seen it all.

But foul-mouthed Beppe Grillo, a former stand-up comic whose very name is redolent of the big top, is something else again. Even our own Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson seem tame by comparison.

Virginia Raggi, a 38-year-old former lawyer, who in June became Rome’s first female mayor, sweeping to victory with 67 per cent of the vote, is a star in Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement

Unthinkable though it might seem, Mr Grillo’s party, or movement as he prefers, which grew from his blog (of all things) just seven years ago, is now closer to forming a government than ever.

Next Sunday, the country goes to the polls in a referendum that might well shape the future of Europe, though on the face of it the vote doesn’t appear particularly consequential, concerning as it does constitutional changes to Italy’s equivalent of the House of Lords.

Yet its result has the potential to eclipse Brexit, and possibly bring the threat of EU disintegration closer to reality – while propelling Mr Grillo’s party ever upwards.

The referendum has effectively turned into a vote on the leadership of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi – and if he loses, which looks probable, there are fears it will set in train a sequence of events leading to the country abandoning the single currency, an outcome dubbed ‘Quitaly’.

As David Cameron did over Brexit, Mr Renzi has staked his political future on the vote, saying he will step down if he loses.

And if that happens, Mr Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) already the biggest opposition party, is widely tipped to triumph at the next election. If he wins, the comedian has vowed to hold a referendum on the single currency.

It is little wonder that the December 4 vote, which takes place amid a crippling financial crisis, is being viewed with nervous anticipation across Europe and beyond.

Beppe Grillo, of the Five Star Movement, makes Nigel Farage look tame by comparison

After Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, a vote against Mr Renzi would be what analysts call the ‘third domino’ as contagious dissatisfaction with political establishments shapes a new world order.

And it is feared that by going a step further and ditching the single currency, Italy would destabilise Europe’s financial system, catching UK investors in the backlash.

What long-term damage it would do to Britain, still beset by uncertainty in the aftermath of leaving the EU, one can only guess.

Sandro Gozi, a minister in the Renzi government, warned yester-day that it might even result in ‘the end of Europe’.

Putting his constitutional reforms to the people was always going to be a high-risk gamble for Mr Renzi.

Doubtless he never thought that the No campaign he faces, with the anti-establishment M5S at its forefront, stood much of a chance.

Yet Grillo’s remarkable rise owes much to the power of the web. That and the belief, sharper in Italy than elsewhere, that the political elite is out of touch with ordinary citizens.

When voters began to look past traditional parties for new groups to represent their interests, Mr Grillo, 68, was ready and waiting.

At the heart of his movement’s philosophy is the idea that it is not a ‘party’ at all. Parties, it says, should be banned.

People power: Protesters demonstrate against Italian premier Matteo Renzi as support grows for Five Star leader Beppe Grillo

There is plenty more that is unconventional or, to some, frankly dotty. It aims to devolve responsibility for decision-making, for instance – from Government to citizen, using the internet.

It is in favour of a universal basic income, though it hasn’t explained how this will be funded – especially when it also wants to lower taxes and increase spending.

And it’s also keen on environmental issues, for which Mr Grillo has endured much teasing, mainly because he owns a Ferrari sports car and a motor yacht.

BRUSSELS' FERTILISER WAR ON OUR BLOOMS LOWERS that flourish in traditional British gardens are under threat from a proposed new edict from Brussels to ban a crucial ingredient that helps them grow. The European Commission wants to ban the plastic-coated balls that are mixed with compost to feed the roots of plants. The European Commission believes the products – Controlled Release Fertilisers(CRFs) – can harm worms, insects and other wildlife. It says they should only be sold if they decompose within two years. At present it takes three to five years. Raoul Curtis-Machin, horticulture director of the Horticultural Trades Association, said: ‘If we are unable to use them it will lead to the leaching of fertilisers into drains and the environment.’ An EC spokeswoman confirmed the plan is to impose new rules on sale of the product. A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman said: ‘We will consider these proposals, which must be based on sound scientific evidence.’ Advertisement

His opponents see him as a dangerous populist whose rant-and-rave oratory at piazzas up and down the country has evoked comparisons to fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel has called him ‘the most dangerous man in Europe’.

In truth, despite wielding significant power, Grillo would make way for others to lead in the event of a triumph at the polls, though he would no doubt play a prominent role.

Luigi Di Maio, a smooth-talking Neapolitan with a penchant for sharp suits, has already been crowned ‘prime minister-in-waiting’ by the Italian media. He’s only 30, but experience counts for little in the M5S. In many ways it is part of the movement’s appeal.

Mr Di Maio told The Mail on Sunday yesterday that his party’s popularity was due to its determination to make society ‘less corrupt and more meritocratic’.

He said: ‘This is something that the political class in Italy has always ignored. The Centre-Left and Centre-Right have created a system where one or the other is always in power. Now they fear losing everything they have built up over the past 40 years.

‘We are not in favour of leaving the European Union. We are in favour of a referendum on the euro. If we win, we will not punish the UK for Brexit.’

In the past the party has spoken of the euro not working, and the need to consider ‘other alternatives such as a euro 2’. But experts claim that would prove disastrous.

Professor Anand Menon, director of the think-tank UK In A Changing Europe, said: ‘There’s the issue of recreating a national currency that devalues as soon as you’ve done so which casts into doubt all your international contracts.’

Another of the movement’s leading lights is Virginia Raggi, a 38-year-old former lawyer, who in June became Rome’s first female mayor, sweeping to victory with 67 per cent of the vote.

Unthinkable though it might seem, Mr Grillo’s party, which grew from his blog (of all things) just seven years ago, is now closer to forming a government than ever

As she took up her new job in Rome’s City Hall, she told her supporters: ‘This is a historic moment and a turning point. We’re going to change everything.’

Yesterday saw the mayor and Beppe Grillo joining 1,000 No campaigners on a march across the Eternal City.

Ms Raggi told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Italy is ready for Five Star because they are tired of a political class who look after themselves, big business and the banks. We want to put citizens at the centre.

‘If we get into government we will stay in Europe but we must be equal partners. We will hold a referendum on the euro. We want to give people a choice.’

The march ended at the La Bocca della Verità – the Mouth of Truth – an image of a man-like face located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

The referendum has effectively turned into a vote on the leadership of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

It featured in a famous scene in the 1953 film Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, and legend has it that if you tell a lie with your hand in the sculpture’s mouth, it will be bitten off.

Perhaps it wasn’t the best place for a politician to linger and Ms Raggi wisely resisted temptation. Not that she had anything to fear. She has spoken frequently of the need for transparency and ‘honest dialogue’, both central tenets of her party’s philosophy.

M5S already has 163 parliamentarians in Italy’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies, many of them ordinary citizens such as house-wives and students. Candidates were chosen in online polls.

Undoubtedly, M5S and the No campaign have been given impetus by Brexit and the US election. But Italy is a country in perpetual crisis and discontent has festered for too long.

In the early 1990s there were high hopes for change when the ‘mani pulite’ (clean hands) operation exposed corruption at the highest levels of politics and business.

But instead of leading to radical reform, the new political landscape came to be dominated by the multi-millionaire businessman Silvio Berlusconi, who himself became synonymous with scandal.

According to Sandro Gozi, a European affairs minister, his prime minister’s constitutional reforms will help curb corruption and inject some much-needed stability.

DON'T PANIC... FRANCE MAY GET A WELSH FIRST LADY France’s Elysee Palace is the epitome of glitz and glamour – hosting well-heeled dignitaries at dinner parties all year round. But soon it could be home to a softly spoken grandmother from Wales who shuns the limelight, potters around in gardening clothes and describes herself as a ‘country peasant’. Penelope Fillon, 61, a solicitor’s daughter from Abergavenny, is a world away from the first lady image encapsulated by former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s model wife Carla Bruni. But she has been thrust into the spotlight after her husband Francois emerged as the surprise front-runner to lead the Republican party at next year’s crucial presidential elections. Penelope Fillon, 61, a solicitor’s daughter from Abergavenny, pictured with her husband and French presidential hopeful Francois Mr Fillon, a former prime minister, won a stunning victory against his former boss Mr Sarkozy last week. It is expected that the committed Anglophile (pictured here with Penelope) will be confirmed as the conservative candidate in a final vote tonight – which would make him the favourite to win next year’s election. Mrs Fillon, born Penelope Clarke, was the eldest of five children of solicitor Colin Clarke, an Englishman, and his Welsh wife Glenys. She studied English, French and German A-levels at the local King Henry VIII Grammar School, then a degree in French and German at University College London. Penelope met her husband, then a law student, during her final degree year which she spent as a teaching assistant at a middle school in Le Mans. They married in 1980 and have five children and four grandchildren. Curiously, Francois’s brother Pierre is married to Penelope’s sister Jane. Francois and his wife live in an idyllic 12th Century chateau in Sarthe but they could swap that for the Elysee Palace if he wins next May. ‘I can’t imagine living in the Elysee,’ Mrs Fillon said yesterday. A fluent French speaker, she has shunned the gilded lifestyles of the Paris elite. She said she hoped she could ‘bring a bit of British humour’ to the role of the president’s wife. ‘I’m just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat,’ she told one interviewer. ‘I am not a Paris party animal… When I’m at our country home, I can go out in old trousers and it doesn’t matter because the locals think, “Oh, she’s just one of those English gardening types.” ’ Advertisement

‘They [the M5S] know that it will be a positive change but they became too carried away with the mood sweeping the world, events like Brexit and Trump,’ he said.

Some doubt that MS5 has the ability to take the reins of power.

Bobo Craxi, secretary of Italy’s Socialist Party, said: ‘Five Star is a spontaneous movement of amateurs and not qualified.