Giorgia Meloni takes office as prime minister of Italy

given by voters for choosing Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy (d) party in last month’s general election was her consistency. In her eight years leading the party, she had never wavered in her advocacy of hardline conservative policies, even resisting the lure of office in 2021 by refusing to join Mario Draghi’s outgoing government of national unity.However, on the evidence of Ms Meloni’s moves since becoming Italy’s first woman prime minister on October 21st, the last thing anyone should expect of her is consistency. Fated to govern with two fractious coalition partners and seen in much of Europe as a far-right Eurosceptic, she has too many balances to strike and fears to allay to remain dogmatic.