Salvini’s League Continues to Climb in Poll, Edging Close to 40%

(Bloomberg) -- Support for Italy’s anti-migrant League continues to rise and it’s now close to giving the party a potential Parliamentary majority if the country were to vote again.

A new SWG poll aired late Monday by La7 television found that support for Matteo Salvini’s party rose to a record 38% last week, and very close to the 40% seen by analysts as the minimum to secure an absolute majority in the two houses of the Rome-based parliament.

The poll -- conducted in the six days through Monday on 1,500 people -- could offer the 46-year-old deputy prime minister a new incentive to try and break free from the government coalition currently formed with Luigi Di Maio’s Five Star Movement, which according to the poll would be backed by 17.2% of the population.

Support for Salvini’s League has more than doubled since last year’s general vote, fuelling speculation that the politician will make a power grab by pulling the plug on the government and seeking new elections.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Chiara Albanese, Dan Liefgreen

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