The great-grandson of Benito Mussolini is running as a candidate in May's European elections - becoming the third descendant of the former Italian fascist dictator to enter politics.

Former naval officer Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini, 51, whose name is taken from one of ancient Rome's most famous rulers, is standing for the far-right Brothers of Italy Party.

Two of his second cousins are also involved in politics. Rachele is a Rome city council member also associated with the party, while Alessandra is an MEP for Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

Alessandra Mussolini, 56, recently hit back at Hollywood actor Jim Carrey after he tweeted a drawing of her grandfather hanging upside down.

Image: Alessandra Mussolini is an MEP for Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party

Rachele Mussolini has been involved in Italian politics for decades - first as a member of a party founded after the war by her grandfather's supporters, then by successor movements that moderated their rhetoric before being absorbed into conservative parties.


Giorgia Meloni, who leads the Brothers of Italy Party, heaped praise on Caio Mussolini - saying: "He is a professional, a serviceman, a patriot."

Mr Mussolini, who is running in southern Italy, called it an honour to stand for the party - telling the right-wing paper Libero that his name is not an easy one to carry but that he will "never be ashamed of my family".

Asked if he would define himself as a fascist, he responded: "Fascism died with Benito Mussolini."

The 51-year-old told the publication he was born well after that period and that fascism was now something for "historians to study" - claiming anyone worried about its revival "is seeing imaginary enemies".

He added: "I see other dangers. The thought police, globalism, the dictatorship of political correctness, uncontrolled immigration a few small financial groups that control everything, Islamic extremism."

Benito Mussolini was Italy's dictator for two decades, plunging the country into World War II and allying himself with Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler. He signed racial laws that led to the deportation and murders of thousands of Italian Jews.

Neo-fascist parties remained part of Italy's post-war political landscape, even though supporting fascism became a crime.