Born in Milan, Salvini joined the Lega Nord in the early 1990s, when it was still led by Umberto Bossi and characterised by its separatist rhetoric advocating autonomy for northern Italy (Padania). He began his political career in the party’s youth wing and as a journalist for La Padania, the movement’s newspaper.
Over the following decades, Salvini repositioned the party ideologically and geographically. As secretary from 2013 onwards, he rebranded the Lega Nord simply as Lega, abandoning its regional secessionism in favour of a nationalist, anti-immigration, and Eurosceptic platform. Drawing on the populist communication strategies pioneered by Silvio Berlusconi and echoing the nativist rhetoric of the European far right, Salvini built a personalist leadership centred on his media presence, direct online engagement, and overt symbolism, including public displays of religious imagery and nationalist slogans.
As Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister in the 2018–2019 coalition government with the Movimento 5 Stelle, Salvini pursued a hardline approach to migration and law enforcement. His policies, such as closing Italian ports to NGO rescue vessels, were framed as a defence of national sovereignty and social order against perceived external threats. Critics accused him of criminalising solidarity and fostering xenophobia.
Under Salvini’s leadership, Lega forged alliances with other European right-wing parties, including Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National and Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, contributing to the consolidation of a transnational network of nationalist movements. Domestically, Salvini’s populism redefined Italy’s right-wing landscape, paving the way for the current coalition led by Giorgia Meloni.
Despite a gradual decline in electoral support since its 2019 peak, Salvini remains a central figure in Italian politics.
