He is virulently anti-immigrant, has called for Roma camps to be razed and once referred to the euro as a “crime against humanity”. Matteo Salvini, the bombastic rightwing leader of Italy’s xenophobic Northern League, has even accused Pope Francis of doing a disservice to Catholics by promoting dialogue with Muslims.

None of this appears to be doing him any harm at the ballot box. On the contrary, in the divided and economically battered Italy of 2015, it seems to be a winning formula. The 42-year-old is riding high after his party made significant electoral gains in central and left-leaning parts of Italy, results that reflect growing opposition to the EU and concern over the thousands of migrants landing on Italy’s shores each week.

In what can only be viewed as a personal affront to Matteo Renzi, the charismatic left-of-centre prime minister who used to be mayor of Florence, Salvini’s Lega Nord, as it is known in Italy, even managed to win 20% of the vote in Tuscany – unheard of in the leftwing bastion of the country that counts Renzi as its favourite son. Salvini called the Tuscan result “sensational”.

Although Renzi’s Democratic party (PD) emerged from Sunday’s regional elections as the overall victor, it lost a bellwether race in Liguria, in northern Italy, to the League-backed candidate from Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia, and was trounced by the League in Veneto, the region around Venice.

Matteo Salvini on the cover of Oggi

Apart from the rightwing resurgence, the results also reflect dissatisfaction with Renzi on the left wing of his party, where his support is waning.

“I have been listening to chatter on the television for an hour: I am happy that we are a bogeyman for lots of mummies, it must mean we are right,” a gleeful Salvini said on Italian radio. “Three months ago it was unthinkable that the League would be fundamental in Liguria or able to win again in Veneto. Our work begins tomorrow; for many parties it ends tonight.”



Salvini, who often appears at events wearing T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts – he once posed for the cover of Oggi magazine in nothing but a green tie – could not be more different to the other Matteo. Renzi, a former boy scout with Machiavellian political instincts, came to power after an intra-party coup last year and promised to reform Italy. He is seen by many, particularly those outside of Italy, as the only viable option to lead the country among a host of politicians who are either too rightwing, too anti-establishment or, on the left, relics of the past.



But Sunday’s election results show that ongoing economic pessimism – despite the economy showing meagre growth for the first time after years of stagnation – is fuelling opposition to the prime minister and could challenge his ambition to rebuild a lasting centrist majority in Italy.



“We are the real alternative to Renzi,” Salvini said in a Facebook post. On Twitter, he thanked supporters and warned Renzi “we’re coming”, using his usual signoff #Salvini.

GRAZIEEEEE! Felice e orgoglioso, al Lavoro per mantenere gli impegni, crescere e vincere! #Renzi, stiamo arrivando. #Salvini #Lega — Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) June 1, 2015

Salvini is nipping at Renzi’s heels in large part because he has managed to turn what was a regional force in Italy into a national party. The Northern League started as a secessionist party that argued for a separation of rich northern Italy from the poor south, but Salvini has – with mixed success – changed the party’s focus.

He likes to compare the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean to an invasion and is a frequent critic of Italy’s Roma population. He has claimed that Muslims in Italy are “trying to impose a way of life that is incompatible with ours”. He has even called on Italians to renounce their nationality and ask for asylum so that they can get benefits.

The question now, according to Wolfango Piccoli, an analyst at Teneo Intelligence who follows Italian politics, is whether Salvini will emerge as the new leader of Italy’s centre-right bloc, therefore replacing Berlusconi, the former premier who was forced to step down from high office following a slew of sex and corruption scandals.



Salvini had an answer to that question on Monday: “I am the leader of the centre-right,” he said. “Berlusconi knows how to read the numbers.”

There was only one real bright spot for Renzi on Sunday, and even that was somewhat dulled. The PD won the race in Campania, in southern Italy, but did so with a slate of candidates who have been criticised by anti-mafia authorities for their links to corruption and organised crime.

