The credit goes to Mum, of course.

Beautiful skin, as we know, depends more on genes than on miracle serums, more on one’s mother than on Korean skincare. In Giorgia Meloni’s case, we know nothing of her complexion, but her mother certainly played a part in her political success, now crowned by the record for the longest-serving government in the history of the Italian Republic. A matriarch in sole command, assertive and creative. Giorgia, too, in order to take Palazzo Chigi (did anyone really delude themselves into thinking that the first female Prime Minister could have come to power through the usual channels via the PD or the Lega?), had to found and build her own party. As for the rest: record employment figures, the books in order, loyalty to Europe and substantial support for Ukraine – despite Salvini – and it’s a shame about her inability to break away from the chorus of condemnation against Israel, because the pro-Palestinian ‘Big Watermelon’ continues to dictate the conditions for membership of the ‘good guys’ club, and Tajani goes along with it. That said, Giorgia Meloni recalls certain fairy-tale underdogs who ultimately overcome the most gruelling trials thanks to a magical helper. In her case, that helper is her mother – a figure somewhat akin to the one in Woody Allen’s New York Stories who looms over her son in the form of a huge cloud, only more jovial and, as we have seen, rather effective.