Handing out Brothers of Italy leaflets on one of Sesto San Giovanni’s main thoroughfares, Michele Russo is on ebullient form. An activist on the Italian far right since the early 1990s, and a member of Giorgia Meloni’s party since its inception in 2012, Russo never expected to witness an election like this.
“We started at 1.9% of the vote back then!” he says. “I thought there was no way we ever get more than 10%. Now we’re approaching 30%.” As someone shouts an insult from a passing car, there is general laughter from the group of leafleters. “They don’t want to acknowledge that times have changed around here. They’re still in mourning!”
