The Northern League and the Brothers of Italy both wobble

FOR MORE than two years, the common wisdom has been that Italy’s next government will be right-wing—and radically so. Polls have consistently indicated that the Brothers of Italy party, with its origins in neo-fascism, and the populist Northern League should together secure enough seats at the next election to form a parliamentary majority, perhaps even without needing help from Silvio Berlusconi’s more moderate Forza Italia movement.But local elections on October 3rd and 4th showed how fragile the support underpinning the hard right is. Centre-left mayoral candidates won with more than half the votes in Milan, Naples and Bologna. Others in Rome and Turin look set to win in run-offs on October 17th and 18th.