General-turned-politician Roberto Vannacci’s new far-right National Future (FN) party has overtaken Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s League in a Youtrend poll for Sky TG24 released on Thursday.

It said FN, whose proposed policies include remigration, has the support of 5.9% of Italian voters, up by 1.5 of a percentage point on a survey done on May 29, while the League, Vannacci’s former party, has dropped by 0.1 of a point to 5.8%.

Vannacci rose to national prominence in 2023 with his bestselling anti-woke book The World The Wrong Way Round, in which, among other things, he said Italian basketball star Paola Egonu, who is black, did not exhibit Italian physical traits and said gays were not normal.

His popularity attracted an approach from Salvini.

He was elected as a MEP on a League electoral list in 2024 and became its deputy leader.

Earlier this year, however, he broke away to form FN which, at the moment, is outside the alliance supporting Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government.

Political pundits say the rise of FN could pose a problem for Meloni’s coalition ahead of the next general election, scheduled for 2027, unless a deal is struck to bring Vannacci’s into the centre-right fold.

Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) remained top in the new Youtrend poll with a support level of 27.8%, up 0.1 of a point.

The opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) was up 0.5 of a point on 22.2%.

Another opposition group, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), was third with 12.1%, a drop of 1.4% with respect to the last poll.

Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) was fourth with 8.2%, up 0.4.

Then came the Green-Left Alliance (AVS) on 6.8%, up 0.4.

The poll said 55% of voters had a negative opinion of Meloni’s government while 35% approved of it.