Vannacci's National Future casts shadow over Umbria's quiet politics

The Guardian's editorial this week draws attention to the rapid rise of Roberto Vannacci's National Future party, which polls now place just behind Forza Italia in Giorgia Meloni's coalition and ahead of Matteo Salvini's League. The former paratrooper, once a military attaché in Moscow, founded the party in February, arguing that the government has sold out its far-right supporters by not being extreme enough.

Vannacci first came to prominence in 2023 when his book The World Turned Upside Down, a tract attacking the "normalisation" of homosexuality and questioning whether a high-profile black volleyball star could be considered Italian, landed him in disciplinary trouble with the military. The controversy sent the book into bestseller charts and the author was suspended for bringing the army into disrepute.

For Umbria, a region known for its quiet hill towns and Franciscan heritage, the national shift toward more extreme politics carries particular weight. The Guardian's editorial warns that the emergence of National Future confirms that Europe's far right is itself radicalising, dragging mainstream politics toward more extreme positions on immigration.