Italy’s Giorgia Meloni denies she is anti-women as credentials questioned

Far-right leader posted sexualised clip of herself during election campaign, favours curbs on abortion and is against pink quotas'

On election day, Giorgia Meloni appeared to have found a way to flout rules demanding candidates stop all campaigning. The Italian far-right leader posted a video of herself on social media holding two melons in front of her chest while winking into the camera and saying: 25 September [voting day], I've said everything". Meloni in Italian means melons, and it is also slang for breasts.

For those who found the clip distasteful, the sexualised image was a further indication that Meloni would not be carrying the torch for feminists as prime minister. Others were surprised by the sudden turn in style by the Brothers of Italy chief, who had made being a woman and mother central to her campaign, but nonetheless acknowledged that it was a clever way of showing voters she knows how to have a laugh, even if the humour hailed from a more masculine culture.