Matteo Salvini is perhaps one of the most influential politicians of the second republic. However, over the course of his political career, the current deputy prime minister has changed positions… more than once. Since I’m stuck in a bi-weekly discussion about him with some of my relatives, I decided I’d lump his political career into one ready-made note, and might as well make a post about it.

The Dawns

Salvini was born in Milan, to a father who was a business manager and a housewife mother. After obtaining his classical diploma, he enrolled in political science at university, only to change his major to literature the following year. He will never finish his degreegiving up their studies with 5 exams to go and 12 years out of course.

During the first years of university, a young Matteo Salvini had just been elected municipal councilor for the League will defend the Social Center in the assembly "Leoncavallo"which ended up at the center of the city’s news. In that period (1998, interview on "the Sun of the Alps") also defended the use of recreational cannabis. Small fast-forward, in September 2020 he will say: «PD and M5S want to focus on the rods to relaunch the country. Drugs are death». Also opposing light cannabis.

In the meantime, in ’97, he will run on an internal list of "Padano Parliament" promoted by the league as "Padano Communist"a current of which he was even among the founders.

He will hold various positions for the League, before becoming its leader. In no particular order (and without sources, please consult Wikipedia on these details God can):

• Reporter for the newspaper "Padania"
• Provincial Secretary of Milan (Northern League)
• Employee of "Radio Padania Libera"and subsequently director
• Member of the European Parliament (Northern League)
• City Councilor in Milan (Northern League) (again)
• Deputy (Northern League)
• European Parliamentarian (Northern League) (again)

In 2011 he will declare: «The tricolor does not represent me, I don’t feel it is my flag, in my house I only have the flag of Lombardy and that of Milan»also saying that he would not have supported the Italian national team at the World Cup.

The League Command

On 2 June 2012 he was elected secretary of the Lombard League. In September 2013, following the seizure of Ilva which caused the redundancy of 1,400 workers from northern Italy, Salvini supported the workers by declaring himself ready for anything.

On that occasion took part in the workers’ demonstration which blocked state road 42 in Val Camonica for almost two hours. On 31 October 2023, however, Salvini and the League they will file a bill to toughen the penalties for those who disrupt traffic road.

In October 2012 Salvini will say: «Lombardy and the North can afford the euro. I want it in Milan, because here we are in Europe. The South, on the other hand, is like Greece and needs another currency».

On November 23, 2013, on the occasion of No Euro Day, Salvini will declare: «The euro is a crime against humanity. The sooner the euro collapses, the sooner I can resume the battle for independence (…) [l'euro] he made a worse massacre than panzer Nazis.”

In 2014 Salvini proposed launching a referendum in Lombardy to demand the region’s independence from the Italian Republic.

Also in 2014, Salvini decides to support the Italian national team at the World Cup that year, because: «after all, it’s better to support Italy than anything else».

In 2015 Salvini founded Us with SalviniNorthern League list for Central and Southern Italy. Its precedents positions anti-Southern therefore they appear to have been abandoned.

Also in 2015, Salvini wrote a post that read “I would trade two Mattarellas for half Putin”. Later when he was asked if he regretted this sentence, he replied: «repentances are done in church».

In 2017 he will support the conspiracy theory of "ethnic replacement" of whites, declaring that «an ethnic replacement is underway in Italy».

The First Government

Within the Conte I government, he was appointed minister of the interior and vice-president of the council.

On 9 June 2018, the Aquarius rescue ship, with 632 migrants rescued at sea on board, refused to disembark on the Italian coast. After a stalemate, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sànchez, of the socialist party, will offer to welcome the ship.

He will be investigated for kidnapping in the case in 2018 Open Armswhich closed definitively yesterday (18 December 2025). At the time of the accusation and during parts of the trial, Salvini would have declared that the trial in which he was accused was an attempt to play politics by some communist magistrate.

August 9, 2019 Salvini presents a motion of no confidence for the Conte I government. Following the debate on 20 August with Conte (M5S), Salvini will withdraw his no-confidence vote. Conte will resign anyway, only to be re-elected on 5 September.

The Count II

In opposition to Conte II, faced with the Covid emergency, Salvini will initially criticize the delay in the government’s announcement of the Lockdown, only to then protest the need to reopen everything by February, but changing his mind again he will declare: «I said at the end of February that everything needed to be reopened. It was evidently a scientifically incorrect assessment».

In 2020, the 110% superbonus will be approved, which was shared in certain parts by the League.

On 15 February 2022 Salvini will declare «renewing the superbonus is essential».

In the same year, on the merits of the budget law, Salvini voted in favor of the extension of the super bonus without any upper ISEE or income limit, declaring on Twitter: «No ISEE cap for the Super bonus. We promised it, we did it: from words to deeds” (21/12/2022).

In 2023, Salvini will change his mind and he will ask that the bonus is confirmed only for families who earn less.

Meanwhile, in July 2022, the League was among the parties that abstained in the vote of confidence following Mario Draghi’s resignation, determining the end of the government of the same name.

The Fornero law

The League will oppose the Fornero law from the very beginning of its proposal, and Salvini in particular will advocate for the abolition of the latter one of his workhorses. In the Conte I government, however, Fornero was not affected.

On August 1, 2022, Salvini will reiterate his legendary opposition to the Fornero Law, declaring that he wants it «reset»and also: «if we win the elections we will see each other again here and we will see if we have kept our promise or not.»

On 22 October 2022 the right-wing coalition wins the elections.

On 18 December 2025 an amendment by the current Meloni government (of which Salvini is vice prime minister) has tightened some provisions of the Fornero Lawparticularly affecting degree redemptions and early pensions. Status of the promise: not kept.

And today? The Meloni Government

In the past Salvini supported Trump as «A salvation for the Americans», saying that Trump in the White House would be good for Italy. Following Trump’s election in the United States in January 2025, Salvini will refer to the "tariff war" saying that «we must not be afraid if the United States serves its interests».

Salvini was awarded by Israel for his relentless support of the nation during the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Representatives of his party still promulgate conspiracy theories regarding a supposed ethnic replacement taking place, as well as a revisionism of the historical facts of fascism.

He strongly opposes it to sending weapons and support to Ukraineand has recently compared military support operations in Kyiv for the invasions of Russia by Napoleon and Hitler.