Italians are voting today in a political election that could see the far right topping the poll for the first time since the second world war.

The final opinion polls carried out before a pre-election embargo two weeks ago gave Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party a clear lead over the PD, which remained stuck at just over 20% of the vote.

The right’s coalition – which also includes Matteo Salvini’s League and the 85-year-old Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia – was running almost 20 points in front of the PD. The support of minor parties such as the Greens and Left alliance, which make up the left’s coalition, is small beer compared with the assembled forces on the other side.