Brothers of Italy

After coming to power in 2022, the Brothers of Italy party and its leader, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, moderated many of their campaign stances, shifting from the right-wing populist and Euroskeptic views that Meloni in particular expressed while in opposition to previous governments.

These shifts included:

• European relations: Although Meloni had claimed that “no to the bureaucrats of Brussels” was an important part of her campaign platform, her first international trip after she became prime minister was to Brussels to meet with the president of the European Commission.
• Economic policy: Meloni abandoned some of her more costly campaign pledges, largely because of constraints imposed by Italy’s fiscal condition.
• Immigration: While Brothers of Italy candidates campaigned on a platform of secure borders and opposition to mass migration, Meloni’s government later worked out a deal to allow nearly half a million non-EU immigrants to enter Italy.

At the same time, Meloni and her party have continued to pursue symbolic culture war measures at home, such as directing Milan’s city council to end its inclusion of the children of same-sex parents in its civil register.

The Brothers of Italy party gained significant popularity in Italy during Mario Draghi’s national unity government, which lasted from 2021 to 2022, largely because it was the only major political party in opposition.

As the sole significant opposition voice, Brothers of Italy became the primary outlet for any public discontent regarding the government’s policies, which enabled the party to consolidate support from voters dissatisfied with the status quo. Its strategy proved effective: Following the collapse of Draghi’s government in July 2022, the party led all others in election polls, and it won 26 percent of the vote in the national election that fall, with its leader, Giorgia Meloni, becoming prime minister.

The Brothers of Italy party successfully combined traditional right-wing politics with antiestablishment populism by positioning itself, in the early 2020s, as the primary outlet for public discontent while simultaneously maintaining a distinct ideological identity.

Scholars have identified Brothers of Italy as a convergence of two trends: the post-fascist Italian right—rooted in the legacy of the Italian Social Movement, a party founded by supporters of Benito Mussolini in 1946—and the antiestablishment politics that have taken hold in Europe and the U.S. since the early 2010s. Several factors have resulted in the party’s ascent to greater power, including:

(1) As the only major party in opposition to Mario Draghi’s national unity government (2021–22), Brothers of Italy became the sole political vehicle for Italian voters frustrated with the status quo.

(2) The party has utilized populist, identity-focused rhetoric. Prior to the national election in 2022, for example, party leader Giorgia Meloni described her platform as “Yes 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!”

The collapse of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s national unity government in July 2022 was a pivotal factor in the rise of the Brothers of Italy to power.

Because Brothers of Italy was the only major political party in opposition to Draghi’s government during its existence in 2021–22, it became the primary outlet for Italian voter discontent. When the coalition supporting Draghi imploded, the party was well positioned to capitalize. By September 2022, Brothers of Italy was leading all other parties in election polls, and it subsequently won the national election with 26 percent of the vote.

Following this victory, the party formed a coalition with two other conservative parties, resulting in the party’s leader, Giorgia Meloni, becoming Italy’s first female prime minister. Pundits labeled her government the most right-wing government established in Italy since 1946. In September 2026 it was still in place, making it the longest-lasting Italian government since World War II.

Brothers of Italy, which formed in the wake of Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation as Italy’s prime minister in 2011 in an effort to sever ties between the Italian right and Berlusconi, won 6.4 percent of the vote in the European Parliament’s 2019 election. That result, combined with the party winning control of two of Italy’s 20 regions in 2019–20, demonstrated the increasing popularity of Brothers of Italy, which went on to win the 2022 Italian national election with 26 percent of the vote. In 2024 Brothers of Italy received the most votes among all Italian parties in the country’s election for the European Parliament.

Before becoming Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, together with fellow members of the Brothers of Italy party, used strong Euroskeptic rhetoric, rejecting European Union governance and decrying what they saw as needless bureaucracy in Brussels, the de facto capital of the EU.

After taking office in 2022, Meloni’s relationship with the EU became more pragmatic. She made Brussels the destination for her first international trip as prime minister, where she met with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and other EU leaders, and pledged that Italy would work with other EU countries.

Meloni continued to pursue domestic culture war measures, though her governing style has proved more flexible than many observers initially expected. Her government has continued to engage with European institutions, marking a departure from the confrontational stance she maintained while in opposition, and has also adopted economic policies that have improved the country’s credit rating. Meloni’s approval rating in Italy was 42 percent in the fall of 2025, higher than that of many other European leaders.