Futuro Nazionale shakes up Italy's right-wing landscape and poses a political headache for Giorgia Meloni.Roberto Vannacci is rapidly consolidating his new far-right party Futuro Nazionale and in doing so is posing a growing threat to the stability of Giorgia Meloni's governing coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.The 57-year-old former army general, who became a political phenomenon with his 2023 self-published polemic Il Mondo al Contrario, first entered electoral politics as a candidate on Matteo Salvini's right-wing Lega ticket for the 2024 European elections. Vannacci, a former paratrooper, gathered more than 530,000 preference votes and became the second most-voted individual candidate in Italy. Salvini subsequently appointed him deputy secretary of the Lega in May 2025, sparking internal tensions and unease within the party ranks. The relationship broke down by early February 2026, when Vannacci announced he would strike out independently, registering Futuro Nazionale as a party and simultaneously being ejected from the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. Salvini called the departure a betrayal. Futuro Nazionale The new party has grown quickly. Vannacci recently celebrated passing 100,000 members, a remarkable figure for a party yet to contest a national election and one that already surpasses the Lega's own membership. The party's constituent assembly is scheduled for 13 and 14 June at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome, where Vannacci has promised to unveil a full programme covering remigration, schools, energy and security. Defections The flow of parliamentary defections from coalition parties has been the most visible sign of the party's momentum. At a press conference in Viareggio last week, Vannacci unveiled five new members: MPs Domenico Furgiuele and Gianangelo Bof from the Lega, and Attilio Pierro and Davide Bergamini from the centre-right Forza Italia, alongside economist and former MEP Antonio Maria Rinaldi, who ended his own Lega career to join the new party. Futuro Nazionale now counts eight deputies in the chamber. Speaking at the event, Vannacci declared the party unstoppable and said elected officials had been approaching him rather than the reverse: "It is not us who are going begging - they came to us because they believe in the project." Dirty Dozen Appearing on the television programme Otto e Mezzo on Wednesday, Vannacci was unapologetic about the nature of his recruits, describing his parliamentary colleagues as the rejects of other parties and invoking the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen: "My party companions are the leftovers of others, and that suits me fine." He also rejected the "far right" label, calling his project "authentic right" while pointedly suggesting that Meloni, whom he placed in the same category, needed to demonstrate her credentials more convincingly. "With the prime minister I have many ideas in common. The problem has been in putting them into practice," he said, citing numerous proposals he claimed had never been implemented and reforms that had not materialised. On the question of alliances, Vannacci was clear that any coalition agreement was not currently on the agenda and would only be negotiated close to the election, subject to his party's non-negotiable positions on security, "remigration" and the Green Deal. Reaction Meloni has avoided engaging with Vannacci publicly however on Thursday 11 June, addressing Futuro Nazionale members in parliament, she said: "You have voted against this government six times, along with [opposition leaders] Schlein, Conte, Renzi, and company... Voting no confidence in the government means voting to send that government home. Well, I think that doing what the left needs is never defending the national interest, so please don't talk to me about being the 'real right', because the real right is never useful to the left." The evening before, Giovanni Donzelli - the organisational director of the premier's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, also did not hold back. Speaking on the Point Break programme on San Marino RTV, Donzelli said: "I don't see why I should talk about an alliance with someone who is just as against us as the [centre-left] Partito Democratico. Vannacci is among those who would like to bring down the Meloni government". Marina Berlusconi, who wields condsiderable influence over the Forza Italia party founded by her late father Silvio Berlusconi, reportedly takes a strongly negative view of Vannacci's politics. Vannacci has responded dismissively, questioning what authority she has to speak for the party given that she holds no political office. Saverio Romano of Noi Moderati - a small centrist party within the government - described Futuro Nazionale's positions as irreconcilable with the values of the coalition, saying a Europhile vision inspired by Christian democratic traditions had nothing in common with the extremism and isolationism of Vannacci's movement. Numbers The electoral arithmetic is what is concentrating minds in Palazzo Chigi. Current polling places Futuro Nazionale at around 4.5-4.8 per cent, close to the Lega's 5.7-5.8 per cent, and scenario modelling suggests the centre-right could lose the 2027 election if Vannacci's voters remain outside the coalition. Among the decisions most consequential for coalition arithmetic is Milan, where the right has not held the mayoralty in over two decades and is treating the 2027 municipal election as a priority. Vannacci has announced that Futuro Nazionale intends to field its own mayoral candidate, a move that would significantly complicate whatever unity the centre-right attempts to assemble. He has also hinted at running a candidate in Rome's mayoral elections. Analysts say that Meloni's calculation - described as equal parts conviction and hope - is that Vannacci's numbers will deflate before polling day. In the meantime, the question hanging over Italy's governing coalition is not whether Vannacci will be a factor in the 2027 election but whether Meloni can find a way to contain him, co-opt him or outlast him. Photo credit: Francesco Bocchi / Shutterstock.com

Roberto Vannacci is rapidly consolidating his new far-right party Futuro Nazionale and in doing so is posing a growing threat to the stability of Giorgia Meloni's governing coalition ahead of the 2027 general election. The 57-year-old former army general, who became a political phenomenon with his 2023 self-published polemic , first entered electoral politics as a candidate on Matteo Salvini's right-wing Lega ticket for the 2024 European elections. Vannacci, a former paratrooper, gathered more than 530,000 preference votes and became the second most-voted individual candidate in Italy. Salvini subsequently appointed him deputy secretary of the Lega in May 2025, sparking internal tensions and unease within the party ranks. The relationship broke down by early February 2026, when Vannacci announced he would strike out independently, registering Futuro Nazionale as a party and simultaneously being ejected from the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. Salvini called the departure a betrayal. The new party has grown quickly. Vannacci recently celebrated passing 100,000 members, a remarkable figure for a party yet to contest a national election and one that already surpasses the Lega's own membership. The party's constituent assembly is scheduled for 13 and 14 June at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome, where Vannacci has promised to unveil a full programme covering remigration, schools, energy and security. The flow of parliamentary defections from coalition parties has been the most visible sign of the party's momentum. At a press conference in Viareggio last week, Vannacci unveiled five new members: MPs Domenico Furgiuele and Gianangelo Bof from the Lega, and Attilio Pierro and Davide Bergamini from the centre-right Forza Italia, alongside economist and former MEP Antonio Maria Rinaldi, who ended his own Lega career to join the new party. Futuro Nazionale now counts eight deputies in the chamber. Speaking at the event, Vannacci declared the party unstoppable and said elected officials had been approaching him rather than the reverse: "It is not us who are going begging - they came to us because they believe in the project." Appearing on the television programme Otto e Mezzo on Wednesday, Vannacci was unapologetic about the nature of his recruits, describing his parliamentary colleagues as the rejects of other parties and invoking the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen: "My party companions are the leftovers of others, and that suits me fine." He also rejected the "far right" label, calling his project "authentic right" while pointedly suggesting that Meloni, whom he placed in the same category, needed to demonstrate her credentials more convincingly. "With the prime minister I have many ideas in common. The problem has been in putting them into practice," he said, citing numerous proposals he claimed had never been implemented and reforms that had not materialised. On the question of alliances, Vannacci was clear that any coalition agreement was not currently on the agenda and would only be negotiated close to the election, subject to his party's non-negotiable positions on security, "remigration" and the Green Deal. Meloni has avoided engaging with Vannacci publicly however on Thursday 11 June, addressing Futuro Nazionale members in parliament, she said: "You have voted against this government six times, along with [opposition leaders] Schlein, Conte, Renzi, and company... Voting no confidence in the government means voting to send that government home. Well, I think that doing what the left needs is never defending the national interest, so please don't talk to me about being the 'real right', because the real right is never useful to the left." The evening before, Giovanni Donzelli - the organisational director of the premier's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, also did not hold back. Speaking on the Point Break programme on San Marino RTV, Donzelli said: "I don't see why I should talk about an alliance with someone who is just as against us as the [centre-left] Partito Democratico. Vannacci is among those who would like to bring down the Meloni government". Marina Berlusconi, who wields condsiderable influence over the Forza Italia party founded by her late father Silvio Berlusconi, reportedly takes a strongly negative view of Vannacci's politics. Vannacci has responded dismissively, questioning what authority she has to speak for the party given that she holds no political office. Saverio Romano of Noi Moderati - a small centrist party within the government - described Futuro Nazionale's positions as irreconcilable with the values of the coalition, saying a Europhile vision inspired by Christian democratic traditions had nothing in common with the extremism and isolationism of Vannacci's movement. The electoral arithmetic is what is concentrating minds in Palazzo Chigi. Current polling places Futuro Nazionale at around 4.5-4.8 per cent, close to the Lega's 5.7-5.8 per cent, and scenario modelling suggests the centre-right could lose the 2027 election if Vannacci's voters remain outside the coalition. Among the decisions most consequential for coalition arithmetic is Milan, where the right has not held the mayoralty in over two decades and is treating the 2027 municipal election as a priority. Vannacci has announced that Futuro Nazionale intends to field its own mayoral candidate, a move that would significantly complicate whatever unity the centre-right attempts to assemble. He has also hinted at running a candidate in Rome's mayoral elections. Analysts say that Meloni's calculation - described as equal parts conviction and hope - is that Vannacci's numbers will deflate before polling day. In the meantime, the question hanging over Italy's governing coalition is not whether Vannacci will be a factor in the 2027 election but whether Meloni can find a way to contain him, co-opt him or outlast him. Photo credit: Francesco Bocchi / Shutterstock.com