In Sweden, the Sweden Democrats became the country’s second-largest party in recent electionsImage caption: In Sweden, the Sweden Democrats became the country’s second-largest party in recent elections
Is there a far-right upsurge in Europe?
The vote in Italy hasn't been officially called, but there appears to be no doubt that Georgia Meloni, a
former apologist for Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and her
nostalgic nationalist Brothers of Italy party stormed to election victory
on Sunday.
Overnight, they’ve gone from political obscurity to Italy’s biggest party.
Meloni’s
chosen coalition partners - business tycoon Silvio Berlusconi and the
anti-immigration populist Matteo Salvini - together seem to have won a clear
majority in both Italy’s houses of parliament.
Italy’s election
comes hot on the heels of a vote in Sweden which saw the Sweden Democrats
become the country’s second largest party. They have their political roots in neo-Nazism.
The EU is already
struggling with what it calls "rule of law issues" with the nationalist
governments in Poland and Hungary.
To say there was concern in the corridors
of Brussels would be an understatement.
What are Meloni's policies?
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Now that the election is over, you might be wondering what Giorgia Meloni's views are, and about the Brothers of Italy party policies. The party has revised several of its views and policies in recent years to make itself more mainstream.
Europe
For example, Meloni and her party have long held Eurosceptic views. There was once talk of leaving the euro and of seeking changes to Italy's role in Europe - leading some to fear it could pursue an Italian version of Brexit.
But its election platform commits the party to European integration. What remains is a call for a "more political and less bureaucratic" EU. "That does not mean that we want to destroy Europe, that we want to leave Europe, that we want to do crazy things," Meloni has said.
She accused the EU of "using the question of the rule of law as an ideological club to hit those considered not aligned". So Brussels remains worried.
And while the Brothers of Italy party was once keen on closer relations with Russia, that changed with the invasion of Ukraine. Its election pledges firmly commit to living up to Italy's Nato agreements and support for Ukraine.
Immigration
But one area where the party remains firm is controlling immigration.
It has been accused of racist or fascist policies by its opponents. But it says it wants only to fight illegal immigration, and have "orderly management" of legal migration. The "border defence" it plans will stop the trafficking of human beings, it says.
Italy
Meloni's party has also pledged "defence and promotion of Europe's classical and Judeo-Christian historical and cultural roots".
At home, the party has a whole host of changes planned: including lower taxes, a directly-elected president and a pledge to pursue energy self-sufficiency amid the cost of living crisis.
'A sad day for Italy,' says opposition leader who will not run again
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
"It's a sad day for Italy," says the leader of centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) Enrico Letta.
He says the PD is now the country's main opposition party and it will "fight with all its strength" and with "great determination".
"We will not allow Italy to leave the heart of Europe," Letta says. "We will not allow Italy to detach itself from European values and first and foremost from its own constitutional values."
"We did our best, but it wasn't enough."
Letta had been teaching at the Sciences Po university in Paris, but was called back in March 2021 to Italy to lead the PD.
He now says that it is a "great personal regret" that the PD did not manage to beat Meloni's alliance, which has led to Italy electing the most right-wing government since WW2.
And he has also announced he will not compete for the party leadership when it comes up next.
Salvini not satisfied, but looking forward to coalition
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, says he is not happy with the 8-9% his party received in the vote even if he is a part of the winning coalition.
"Today we are commenting on a fact that obviously does not satisfy me," Salvini told a news conference.
Meloni was the only major party leader who refused to go into popular technocrat Mario Draghi's broad-based coalition, so she was the only big opposition leader when it collapsed in July.
Salvini said this move "paid off" and Meloni has "done it well".
"Being in government has cost us, but I would do it again."
And he added that now he was back in government "with a leading role".
"I expect that for at least five years we will press ahead
without any changes, without any twists, prioritising the things
we need to do," he said.
"I congratulate Giorgia, she was good. We will work together for a long time," he added.
As interior minister, Salvini closed down migrant camps and blocked NGO boats carrying migrants rescued from the Mediterranean from entering port.
'Novelty to have first female PM'
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Veneto region
BBCCopyright: BBC
Tiziano Righetti, 78, a pensioner, switched his vote from Matteo Salvini’s
League party at the last election to Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
Current projections suggest that’s a trend being seen widely in the Veneto
region.
“I’m happy because we’re going to try and change,” he tells the BBC.
"It’s also important that for the first time
Italy will have a female prime minister. This is a novelty.”
'Meloni is ready to take responsibility for Italy'
We’re getting more reaction to Giorgia Meloni’s victory now.
Deborah Bergamini, MP for Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party which is part of Meloni’s coalition, says the forst woman to become Italy's prime minister has been “very good” at presenting herself as a “pragmatic, concrete” woman who is “ready to take responsibility for this country”.
“This has allowed her such an outcome,” Bergamini told the BBC’s Today Programme.
Asked if she has concerns about the party’s roots in Mussolini's facist movement, Bergamini says it is “stereotype that has nothing to do with Mussolini”.
“I find this comparison totally improper, inappropriate and far from the reality of the perception that Brothers of Italy and the centre right coalition have in this country,” she says.
Italy is the
bloc’s third largest economy and one of its founding members. Meloni is a deep
Eurosceptic at heart.
On the campaign trail she often spoke of Italy being
downtrodden by the EU’s bigger and more wealthy members.
And while she’s
steered clear of calling for Italy to leave the euro or the EU altogether, she
is thought likely to team up with those Brussels views as its more
‘problematic’ members, Hungary and Poland, particularly when it comes to
migration.
Fiscal discipline is also a probable flashpoint.
Italy is one of
Europe’s most indebted nations, but Georgia Meloni’s welfare promises are
considerable: including more support for the disabled, for childcare, for
pensioners and for Italian women, an attempt, she says, to encourage them to
have more babies - to keep the number of immigrant workers down.
That will all
cost a lot of money, and her business-friendly pledge of a flat tax, realistic
or not, would, in theory mean less government income to play with.
Giorgia
Meloni’s election victory comes at a critical time for Europe, with war back on
the continent.
Sanctions against Russia are driving up inflationary pressures.
Giorgia Meloni knows Italians’ main concerns are spiralling energy costs and an
acute cost of living crisis.
Considering her chosen coalition partners, tycoon
Berlusconi and far right populist Matteo Salvini have traditionally close ties
to Moscow, another concern in Brussels is whether a Meloni government will stay
the course on tough sanctions against the Kremlin.
European Unity is going to
come under strain.
A new dawn for Italy: What's happened?
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor, reporting from Rome
Most of the results are in and it's now clear that Giorgia Meloni has won an emphatic victory in Italy's general election, steering her far-right Brothers of Italy party to around 26% of the vote.
We don't yet have a breakdown of seats but her right-wing alliance will end up dominating the two houses of parliament - the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Meloni is on course to become her country's first female prime minister. But that step won't be taken until late October when the president talks to the party leaders.
Although neither of her allies did well, Italian governments require coalitions - so she will need Matteo Salvini's League and veteran Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia to form a majority.
BBCCopyright: BBC
It was a bad night for the centre left - Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta will give his reaction very shortly. He lost votes to the anti-establishment Five Star Movement which appealed in particular to younger voters.
France and Spain have both expressed concern about Italy's lurch to the right, but the reaction from Hungary's nationalist government and Poland's socially conservative leadership is far more favourable.
'Congratulations' to 'catastrophe' - European reaction
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Jose Manuel Albares said the result would end in 'catastrophe'Image caption: Jose Manuel Albares said the result would end in 'catastrophe'
As we reported earlier, Poland was one of the first - if not the first - to welcome the election of a far-right government in Italy.
But while Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Giorgia Meloni on her "great victory", the reaction of France and Spain have been less enthusiastic.
French PM Elisabeth Borne said the European Union would closely follow the
respect of certain human rights and values such as women's
access to abortion.
"It is a human rights value and the respect of others,
namely the right to have access to abortion, should be upheld by
all," Borne said, while adding she did not want to comment
on the "democratic choice of the Italian people".
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the result would end in "catastrophe".
"These are uncertain times and at times like this, populist movements always grow, but it always ends in the same way - in catastrophe because they offer simple short-term answers to problems which are very complex," he told reporters at a briefing.
Polish PM congratulates Meloni
Adam Easton
Reporting from Warsaw
The Polish government has welcomed
the news that Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy is projected to have won the
most seats in the Italian general election.
Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki
tweeted his congratulations to Meloni shortly after the exit polls were
released.
In other reaction to the exit
polls on Twitter:
Deputy Justice minister,
Marcin Warchol, from the small hardline, Eurosceptic United Poland coalition
party member, wrote: “Bravo Italy! Democracy won!”
Michal Wojcik, a minister in
the prime minister’s chancellery, also from United Poland, wrote: “[European Commission President] Von der
Leyen, the representative of the anti-democratic forces in the EU suffered a
defeat.
"The right wing wins the elections in Italy! The abnormality in the EU
is ending. The rule of the manipulators and madmen in the European Commission
is slowly coming to an end”.
While Poland’s governing Law and
Justice party disagrees with Viktor Orban’s Fidesz and Matteo Salvini’s
friendly stance towards Russia it is happy to set that aside when it comes to
challenging those promoting a liberal agenda in Brussels.
What happens now?
Election night victory is just the first step to forming a working government. Here's how things will pan out in the coming days:
Official results still have to be announced - final tallies will likely come in from the interior ministry later on Monday
By 13 October - but perhaps much sooner - parliament will meet for the first time since the election. The formal process of forming the government can't start until then
After 20 October, Italy's President then negotiates with all parties on who gets to form the government - though it is likely to be fairly clear that Ms Meloni's coalition is the only option
End of October: Assuming that's the case, President Mattarella will nominate Giorgia Meloni as prime minister
She will then start building her government and handing out ministerial positions to her own party and its coalition allies, as well as agreeing its priorities. Those negotiations are likely to have been going on informally for some time, but once invited to form a government, everything will be firmed up
And once it is, Ms Meloni will formally accept the president's invitation and appoint her ministers, prompting the swearing-in of Italy's new government
The new government must also pass a vote of confidence in both houses within 10 days of swearing in - but that is likely to be just a formality since Ms Meloni's coalition looks set to have control of both, if the latest results are any indication.
BBCCopyright: BBC
What about the other right-wing parties?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Giorgia Meloni's party has no experience in government, so she will need full support from ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, who were both part of the outgoing Draghi government.
Although he was Italy's longest-serving prime minister, Berlusconi, 85, is running for election to the Senate for the first time since he was barred in 2013 for tax fraud.
His centre-right Forza Italia is seen as the weakest of the three parties. Matteo Salvini's League is a natural partner for Meloni. Meloni's right-wing alliance now looks to have control of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with a projected 42.2% of the Senate vote.
As interior minister, he closed down migrant camps and blocked NGO boats carrying migrants rescued from the Mediterranean from entering port.
What do they want?
They are promising to cut sales tax on energy and other essential items, and to introduce a flat tax for the self-employed, possibly set at 23%, which critics say would give more to the rich than the poor.
They want to end Italy's ban on nuclear power. There are plans to shore up Italy's birth rate with increased allowances for families.
And they aim to combat irregular immigration and manage legal immigration in an orderly way.
Voter: Meloni 'the only one who promised support'
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Veneto region
BBCCopyright: BBC
Milena
Spigo has run her bar in the village of Zevio for 15 years, in the northern
region of Veneto.
She says that having a business is harder than ever because
of rising costs.
"Taxes are
high and all the bills are going up. We simply can’t live like this,” she tells
the BBC.
Milena thinks that, amongst her clients, it was Giorgia Meloni who cut
through the most in a province where the Brothers of Italy party only polled at
around 4 per cent four years ago.
“She
is the one who’s promised more support,”
says Milena.
But voters here are wary of politicians’ promises.
“It’s important to see if they keep to
their words. People
need to be helped, pensions are too low and the cost
of living is rising. “
What happened to the previous government?
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Back in July - 18 months after he was appointed as Italy's unelected head of a unity government - Mario Draghi quit as prime minister and called these latest snap elections.
Draghi, 74, had been a popular choice as PM, dubbed Super Mario for his handling of the eurozone crisis as head of the European Central Bank.
But political infighting brought him down.
Three parties in his coalition government refused to back him in a confidence vote, forcing him to tender his resignation to Italy's president.
Italy has a history of political instability, and the next prime minister will lead its 68th government since 1946.
It was 03:00 after the election when Georgia Meloni appeared on stage with a beaming "Thank you to Italians" sign.
She’s waited all her political life for this moment. From her teenage years as an ardent political activist in a working class district of Rome, she’s poised to become Italy‘s next prime minister.
The tone she chose last night was calm and inclusive, compared to the firebrand oratory she’s famed for.
She would get Italy back on its feet again, she promised, in the name of all Italians - not just those who voted for her.
Turnout was very low yesterday by Italian standards. Many voters say they’re exhausted by years of empty promises from across the political spectrum, while they and their families feel abandoned to fight spiralling energy costs and a cost of living crisis.
Meloni's win secures praise of like-minded European allies
EPACopyright: EPA
We're hearing some international reaction to Giorgia Meloni's victory now.
Leader of France's far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, praised Meloni and League leader Matteo Salvini for resisting "threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union".
Writing on Twitter, she says: "The Italian people has decided to take its destiny in hand
by electing a patriotic and sovereignist government.
"Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni and Matteo
Salvini for having resisted the threats of an anti-democratic
and arrogant European Union by winning this great victory."
The Hungarian prime minister's long-serving political director, Balazs Orban, also congratulated Italy's right-wing parties.
Oban says: "We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe's challenges."
In Spain, Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, says "millions of Europeans have their hopes pinned on Italy".
On Twitter, Abascal says Meloni "has shown the way for a proud, free Europe of sovereign nations, capable of co-operating for the security and prosperity of all".
In Germany, AfD member of the Bundestag Beatrix von Storch congratulates "the entire center-right alliance", adding that "together with our friends around Salvini, Giorgia Meloni can build a strong right-wing government".
Analysis
A region that has never gone this far right before
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Verona
In the Verona province - one of Italy’s wealthier areas - local media reports that turnout is higher than the south at around 70%.
But don’t mistake that for electoral excitement. The mood here has been one of apathy, cynicism and frustration.
The tourists bustling around the famous city of Verona have, in the last few days, been far more apparent than the looming election.
What interest there is does seem to have been sparked by Giorgia Meloni. People talk about her grit and determination.
Her party’s fascist roots definitely worry some but others say they believe that’s in the past.
And her tax cutting policies have gone down well in a region that typically opts for the right. But it’s never gone this far right before.
Italy's last election winner cuts through to win third place
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor, reporting from Rome
GIUSEPPE LAMI/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockCopyright: GIUSEPPE LAMI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Giuseppe Conte's party was particularly popular with younger votersImage caption: Giuseppe Conte's party was particularly popular with younger voters
Four years ago, it was the turn of Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement to sweep to power - with just under a third of the vote. They promised to shake up politics, sweeping away the old political realities, giving their members a say online with an experiment in direct democracy,
Their current leader Giuseppe Conte left academic life to serve as an independent prime minister, and the reality of government soon pushed them down in the polls. Dozens of their MPs defected and by yesterday Five Star wasn't in the race for government any more.
Nevertheless Conte managed to stop the rot and Five Star has now won a creditable 15% of the vote. Talking to voters in several towns around Rome in the past few days, it was clear his campaign was cutting through, particularly with young voters who see Five Star as more dynamic than the old Democratic Party on the centre left.
It was a very different story for Five Star's one-time leader - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio - who split from the party in the summer because he was unhappy with its "ambiguous" policy on Ukraine. His new party Civic Engagement flopped yesterday and he's lost his seat in parlaiment.
Italy really has only three big parties now and Five Star is one of them. Conte shares several policies with the centre left, but they failed to find combine forces to challenge the right wing.
They had long scented victory but when it came for the far-right Brothers of Italy, it smelled and sounded sweet.
At their party HQ, they cheered the leader Giorgia Meloni topping the election and now in prime position to become Italy's first female prime minister and the first far-right leader since Mussolini.
When she spoke, out was the brash hectoring of the campaign, in was a new tone of unity.
During the day at polling stations like Meloni's old school, in the Roman district of Garbatella, turnout was the lowest ever.
Her party emerged from neo-fascism but she says it has consigned that to history. What's clearer is her conservatism on social issues.
The fear in the West will be a change in Italy' position on Ukraine. While Meloni is pro-Kyiv, her coalition partners are Putinophiles [close to Russia's President Vladimir Putin].
And so, Brother's of Italy, taking its name from the Italian anthem, now looks set for power. A far-right leader likely to take office in a city that is eternal but where politics has monumentally changed.
What have political leaders said?
After a long night, it's the start of the working day in Italy and some initial reaction to the results from the winners and losers has been coming through.
When it became clear that she was set to win, Ms Meloni told her supporters: "Italy has chosen us", and pledged to govern on everybody's behalf. "We will do it for all Italians with the clear objective of uniting this people," she said
Matteo Salvini, leader of likely coalition partner League, tweeted his thanks to supporters for the "clear advantage" the coalition looked to have in both houses of parliament
Former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, leader of Five Star, hailed what he called a "significant comeback" as his party took third place - but said that comes with "a great responsibility". He vowed to serve as an "uncompromising opposition" to Ms Meloni's alliance
There's been no word yet from the runner-up, centre-left party leader Enrico Letta, or from Italian political stalwart Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is likely to be part of the government now.
Live Reporting
Edited by Chris Giles and Alexandra Fouché
All times stated are UK
Is the far right progressing in Europe?
Katya Adler
Europe Editor
Is there a far-right upsurge in Europe?
The vote in Italy hasn't been officially called, but there appears to be no doubt that Georgia Meloni, a former apologist for Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and her nostalgic nationalist Brothers of Italy party stormed to election victory on Sunday.
Overnight, they’ve gone from political obscurity to Italy’s biggest party.
Meloni’s chosen coalition partners - business tycoon Silvio Berlusconi and the anti-immigration populist Matteo Salvini - together seem to have won a clear majority in both Italy’s houses of parliament.
Italy’s election comes hot on the heels of a vote in Sweden which saw the Sweden Democrats become the country’s second largest party. They have their political roots in neo-Nazism.
And remember - in June Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally performed spectacularly in France’s parliamentary election.
The EU is already struggling with what it calls "rule of law issues" with the nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary.
To say there was concern in the corridors of Brussels would be an understatement.
What are Meloni's policies?
Now that the election is over, you might be wondering what Giorgia Meloni's views are, and about the Brothers of Italy party policies. The party has revised several of its views and policies in recent years to make itself more mainstream.
Europe
For example, Meloni and her party have long held Eurosceptic views. There was once talk of leaving the euro and of seeking changes to Italy's role in Europe - leading some to fear it could pursue an Italian version of Brexit.
But its election platform commits the party to European integration. What remains is a call for a "more political and less bureaucratic" EU. "That does not mean that we want to destroy Europe, that we want to leave Europe, that we want to do crazy things," Meloni has said.
That doesn't mean there are no issues. Meloni is openly critical of EU attempts to pressure Hungary and Poland over democratic standards.
She accused the EU of "using the question of the rule of law as an ideological club to hit those considered not aligned". So Brussels remains worried.
And while the Brothers of Italy party was once keen on closer relations with Russia, that changed with the invasion of Ukraine. Its election pledges firmly commit to living up to Italy's Nato agreements and support for Ukraine.
Immigration
But one area where the party remains firm is controlling immigration.
It has been accused of racist or fascist policies by its opponents. But it says it wants only to fight illegal immigration, and have "orderly management" of legal migration. The "border defence" it plans will stop the trafficking of human beings, it says.
Italy
Meloni's party has also pledged "defence and promotion of Europe's classical and Judeo-Christian historical and cultural roots".
At home, the party has a whole host of changes planned: including lower taxes, a directly-elected president and a pledge to pursue energy self-sufficiency amid the cost of living crisis.
'A sad day for Italy,' says opposition leader who will not run again
"It's a sad day for Italy," says the leader of centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) Enrico Letta.
He says the PD is now the country's main opposition party and it will "fight with all its strength" and with "great determination".
"We will not allow Italy to leave the heart of Europe," Letta says. "We will not allow Italy to detach itself from European values and first and foremost from its own constitutional values."
"We did our best, but it wasn't enough."
Letta had been teaching at the Sciences Po university in Paris, but was called back in March 2021 to Italy to lead the PD.
He now says that it is a "great personal regret" that the PD did not manage to beat Meloni's alliance, which has led to Italy electing the most right-wing government since WW2.
And he has also announced he will not compete for the party leadership when it comes up next.
Salvini not satisfied, but looking forward to coalition
Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, says he is not happy with the 8-9% his party received in the vote even if he is a part of the winning coalition.
"Today we are commenting on a fact that obviously does not satisfy me," Salvini told a news conference.
Meloni was the only major party leader who refused to go into popular technocrat Mario Draghi's broad-based coalition, so she was the only big opposition leader when it collapsed in July.
Salvini said this move "paid off" and Meloni has "done it well".
"Being in government has cost us, but I would do it again."
And he added that now he was back in government "with a leading role".
"I expect that for at least five years we will press ahead without any changes, without any twists, prioritising the things we need to do," he said.
"I congratulate Giorgia, she was good. We will work together for a long time," he added.
As interior minister, Salvini closed down migrant camps and blocked NGO boats carrying migrants rescued from the Mediterranean from entering port.
'Novelty to have first female PM'
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Veneto region
Tiziano Righetti, 78, a pensioner, switched his vote from Matteo Salvini’s League party at the last election to Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
Current projections suggest that’s a trend being seen widely in the Veneto region.
“I’m happy because we’re going to try and change,” he tells the BBC.
"It’s also important that for the first time Italy will have a female prime minister. This is a novelty.”
'Meloni is ready to take responsibility for Italy'
We’re getting more reaction to Giorgia Meloni’s victory now.
Deborah Bergamini, MP for Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party which is part of Meloni’s coalition, says the forst woman to become Italy's prime minister has been “very good” at presenting herself as a “pragmatic, concrete” woman who is “ready to take responsibility for this country”.
“This has allowed her such an outcome,” Bergamini told the BBC’s Today Programme.
Asked if she has concerns about the party’s roots in Mussolini's facist movement, Bergamini says it is “stereotype that has nothing to do with Mussolini”.
“I find this comparison totally improper, inappropriate and far from the reality of the perception that Brothers of Italy and the centre right coalition have in this country,” she says.
Is Meloni's win going to upset EU?
Katya Adler
Europe Editor
Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist protectionist tones really worry Brussels.
Italy is the bloc’s third largest economy and one of its founding members. Meloni is a deep Eurosceptic at heart.
On the campaign trail she often spoke of Italy being downtrodden by the EU’s bigger and more wealthy members.
And while she’s steered clear of calling for Italy to leave the euro or the EU altogether, she is thought likely to team up with those Brussels views as its more ‘problematic’ members, Hungary and Poland, particularly when it comes to migration.
Fiscal discipline is also a probable flashpoint.
Italy is one of Europe’s most indebted nations, but Georgia Meloni’s welfare promises are considerable: including more support for the disabled, for childcare, for pensioners and for Italian women, an attempt, she says, to encourage them to have more babies - to keep the number of immigrant workers down.
That will all cost a lot of money, and her business-friendly pledge of a flat tax, realistic or not, would, in theory mean less government income to play with.
Giorgia Meloni’s election victory comes at a critical time for Europe, with war back on the continent.
Sanctions against Russia are driving up inflationary pressures. Giorgia Meloni knows Italians’ main concerns are spiralling energy costs and an acute cost of living crisis.
Considering her chosen coalition partners, tycoon Berlusconi and far right populist Matteo Salvini have traditionally close ties to Moscow, another concern in Brussels is whether a Meloni government will stay the course on tough sanctions against the Kremlin.
European Unity is going to come under strain.
A new dawn for Italy: What's happened?
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor, reporting from Rome
Most of the results are in and it's now clear that Giorgia Meloni has won an emphatic victory in Italy's general election, steering her far-right Brothers of Italy party to around 26% of the vote.
We don't yet have a breakdown of seats but her right-wing alliance will end up dominating the two houses of parliament - the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Meloni is on course to become her country's first female prime minister. But that step won't be taken until late October when the president talks to the party leaders.
Although neither of her allies did well, Italian governments require coalitions - so she will need Matteo Salvini's League and veteran Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia to form a majority.
It was a bad night for the centre left - Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta will give his reaction very shortly. He lost votes to the anti-establishment Five Star Movement which appealed in particular to younger voters.
France and Spain have both expressed concern about Italy's lurch to the right, but the reaction from Hungary's nationalist government and Poland's socially conservative leadership is far more favourable.
'Congratulations' to 'catastrophe' - European reaction
As we reported earlier, Poland was one of the first - if not the first - to welcome the election of a far-right government in Italy.
But while Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Giorgia Meloni on her "great victory", the reaction of France and Spain have been less enthusiastic.
French PM Elisabeth Borne said the European Union would closely follow the respect of certain human rights and values such as women's access to abortion.
"It is a human rights value and the respect of others, namely the right to have access to abortion, should be upheld by all," Borne said, while adding she did not want to comment on the "democratic choice of the Italian people".
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the result would end in "catastrophe".
"These are uncertain times and at times like this, populist movements always grow, but it always ends in the same way - in catastrophe because they offer simple short-term answers to problems which are very complex," he told reporters at a briefing.
Polish PM congratulates Meloni
Adam Easton
Reporting from Warsaw
The Polish government has welcomed the news that Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy is projected to have won the most seats in the Italian general election.
Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted his congratulations to Meloni shortly after the exit polls were released.
In other reaction to the exit polls on Twitter:
Deputy Justice minister, Marcin Warchol, from the small hardline, Eurosceptic United Poland coalition party member, wrote: “Bravo Italy! Democracy won!”
Michal Wojcik, a minister in the prime minister’s chancellery, also from United Poland, wrote: “[European Commission President] Von der Leyen, the representative of the anti-democratic forces in the EU suffered a defeat.
"The right wing wins the elections in Italy! The abnormality in the EU is ending. The rule of the manipulators and madmen in the European Commission is slowly coming to an end”.
While Poland’s governing Law and Justice party disagrees with Viktor Orban’s Fidesz and Matteo Salvini’s friendly stance towards Russia it is happy to set that aside when it comes to challenging those promoting a liberal agenda in Brussels.
What happens now?
Election night victory is just the first step to forming a working government. Here's how things will pan out in the coming days:
The new government must also pass a vote of confidence in both houses within 10 days of swearing in - but that is likely to be just a formality since Ms Meloni's coalition looks set to have control of both, if the latest results are any indication.
What about the other right-wing parties?
Giorgia Meloni's party has no experience in government, so she will need full support from ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, who were both part of the outgoing Draghi government.
Although he was Italy's longest-serving prime minister, Berlusconi, 85, is running for election to the Senate for the first time since he was barred in 2013 for tax fraud.
His centre-right Forza Italia is seen as the weakest of the three parties. Matteo Salvini's League is a natural partner for Meloni. Meloni's right-wing alliance now looks to have control of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with a projected 42.2% of the Senate vote.
As interior minister, he closed down migrant camps and blocked NGO boats carrying migrants rescued from the Mediterranean from entering port.
What do they want?
They are promising to cut sales tax on energy and other essential items, and to introduce a flat tax for the self-employed, possibly set at 23%, which critics say would give more to the rich than the poor.
They want to end Italy's ban on nuclear power. There are plans to shore up Italy's birth rate with increased allowances for families.
And they aim to combat irregular immigration and manage legal immigration in an orderly way.
Voter: Meloni 'the only one who promised support'
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Veneto region
Milena Spigo has run her bar in the village of Zevio for 15 years, in the northern region of Veneto.
She says that having a business is harder than ever because of rising costs.
"Taxes are high and all the bills are going up. We simply can’t live like this,” she tells the BBC.
Milena thinks that, amongst her clients, it was Giorgia Meloni who cut through the most in a province where the Brothers of Italy party only polled at around 4 per cent four years ago.
“She is the one who’s promised more support,” says Milena.
But voters here are wary of politicians’ promises.
“It’s important to see if they keep to their words. People need to be helped, pensions are too low and the cost of living is rising. “
What happened to the previous government?
Back in July - 18 months after he was appointed as Italy's unelected head of a unity government - Mario Draghi quit as prime minister and called these latest snap elections.
Draghi, 74, had been a popular choice as PM, dubbed Super Mario for his handling of the eurozone crisis as head of the European Central Bank.
But political infighting brought him down.
Three parties in his coalition government refused to back him in a confidence vote, forcing him to tender his resignation to Italy's president.
Italy has a history of political instability, and the next prime minister will lead its 68th government since 1946.
Read more: Italian PM Mario Draghi resigns after week of turmoil
Meloni's time comes
Katya Adler
Europe Editor
It was 03:00 after the election when Georgia Meloni appeared on stage with a beaming "Thank you to Italians" sign.
She’s waited all her political life for this moment. From her teenage years as an ardent political activist in a working class district of Rome, she’s poised to become Italy‘s next prime minister.
The tone she chose last night was calm and inclusive, compared to the firebrand oratory she’s famed for.
She would get Italy back on its feet again, she promised, in the name of all Italians - not just those who voted for her.
Turnout was very low yesterday by Italian standards. Many voters say they’re exhausted by years of empty promises from across the political spectrum, while they and their families feel abandoned to fight spiralling energy costs and a cost of living crisis.
Meloni's win secures praise of like-minded European allies
We're hearing some international reaction to Giorgia Meloni's victory now.
Leader of France's far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, praised Meloni and League leader Matteo Salvini for resisting "threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union".
Writing on Twitter, she says: "The Italian people has decided to take its destiny in hand by electing a patriotic and sovereignist government.
"Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini for having resisted the threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union by winning this great victory."
The Hungarian prime minister's long-serving political director, Balazs Orban, also congratulated Italy's right-wing parties.
Oban says: "We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe's challenges."
In Spain, Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, says "millions of Europeans have their hopes pinned on Italy".
On Twitter, Abascal says Meloni "has shown the way for a proud, free Europe of sovereign nations, capable of co-operating for the security and prosperity of all".
In Germany, AfD member of the Bundestag Beatrix von Storch congratulates "the entire center-right alliance", adding that "together with our friends around Salvini, Giorgia Meloni can build a strong right-wing government".
A region that has never gone this far right before
Jessica Parker
Reporting from Verona
In the Verona province - one of Italy’s wealthier areas - local media reports that turnout is higher than the south at around 70%.
But don’t mistake that for electoral excitement. The mood here has been one of apathy, cynicism and frustration.
The tourists bustling around the famous city of Verona have, in the last few days, been far more apparent than the looming election.
What interest there is does seem to have been sparked by Giorgia Meloni. People talk about her grit and determination.
Her party’s fascist roots definitely worry some but others say they believe that’s in the past.
And her tax cutting policies have gone down well in a region that typically opts for the right. But it’s never gone this far right before.
Italy's last election winner cuts through to win third place
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor, reporting from Rome
Four years ago, it was the turn of Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement to sweep to power - with just under a third of the vote. They promised to shake up politics, sweeping away the old political realities, giving their members a say online with an experiment in direct democracy,
Their current leader Giuseppe Conte left academic life to serve as an independent prime minister, and the reality of government soon pushed them down in the polls. Dozens of their MPs defected and by yesterday Five Star wasn't in the race for government any more.
Nevertheless Conte managed to stop the rot and Five Star has now won a creditable 15% of the vote. Talking to voters in several towns around Rome in the past few days, it was clear his campaign was cutting through, particularly with young voters who see Five Star as more dynamic than the old Democratic Party on the centre left.
It was a very different story for Five Star's one-time leader - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio - who split from the party in the summer because he was unhappy with its "ambiguous" policy on Ukraine. His new party Civic Engagement flopped yesterday and he's lost his seat in parlaiment.
Italy really has only three big parties now and Five Star is one of them. Conte shares several policies with the centre left, but they failed to find combine forces to challenge the right wing.
A city where politics has monumentally changed
Mark Lowen
Reporting from Rome
They had long scented victory but when it came for the far-right Brothers of Italy, it smelled and sounded sweet.
At their party HQ, they cheered the leader Giorgia Meloni topping the election and now in prime position to become Italy's first female prime minister and the first far-right leader since Mussolini.
When she spoke, out was the brash hectoring of the campaign, in was a new tone of unity.
During the day at polling stations like Meloni's old school, in the Roman district of Garbatella, turnout was the lowest ever.
Her party emerged from neo-fascism but she says it has consigned that to history. What's clearer is her conservatism on social issues.
The fear in the West will be a change in Italy' position on Ukraine. While Meloni is pro-Kyiv, her coalition partners are Putinophiles [close to Russia's President Vladimir Putin].
And so, Brother's of Italy, taking its name from the Italian anthem, now looks set for power. A far-right leader likely to take office in a city that is eternal but where politics has monumentally changed.
What have political leaders said?
After a long night, it's the start of the working day in Italy and some initial reaction to the results from the winners and losers has been coming through.
There's been no word yet from the runner-up, centre-left party leader Enrico Letta, or from Italian political stalwart Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is likely to be part of the government now.