Lega (Italy)
The Italian party that began as the Northern League in 1991 and became a national force under Matteo Salvini.
Overview
The Lega Nord united the regional leagues of the North in 1991, campaigning for federalism and northern independence rhetoric under Umberto Bossi, Padania as its imagined nation. Entering Berlusconi governments, it delivered devolution reforms. Matteo Salvini took over in 2013, dropped the northern program for a national populist one, immigration control and flat taxes, and in 2018 won seventeen percent as interior minister in coalition. Support halved after the 2019 break with Five Star. The party now anchors the right in government under Meloni while Salvini serves as deputy prime minister and transport minister.
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