Giorgia Meloni, 45, has won the Italian general election by drive and sheer personality, but her victory was a huge step backwards for the country. Meloni’s politics has direct lineage to those of another leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini , Il Duce, the Fascist who ruled from 1921 to 1943.
On the face of it, Meloni, who says she will govern for all Italians, may have little in common with the other dominant personality of the week, or even the year’s news – Vladimir Putin.
