Italy’s probable next government contains many tensions

bounds onto a platform in the shadow of a medieval tower at the end of a gruelling day of campaigning. It has already taken her to two cities, but this one is special. Mestre, the mainland part of Venice, is in the Veneto. And the Veneto is the region that spawned the Northern League. The League is yoked to Ms Meloni’s party, the Brothers of Italy (d), in an alliance that is expected to win Italy’s election on September 25th. Under its leader, Matteo Salvini, the League no longer flirts with separatism. But regional autonomy remains hugely popular in the Veneto. Ms Meloni, a Roman, leads a stridently nationalist movement with its roots in neo-fascism. If there is anywhere she should be unwelcome, it is here.Yet the long piazza ahead of her is packed. A party of dloyalists hold aloft an immense banner, 25 metres long, in the national colours of green, white and red. A disproportionate number of the men in the crowd—more than a quarter in a section counted by —are wearing black shirts, which Italians still associate with those worn by fascist militiamen.