Matteo Salvini’s Northern League: Consolidating Success or Losing Political Momentum?

2016 can be regarded as a transition year for the Northern League. After two years of recovery and unprecedented electoral successes under Matteo Salvini’s new leadership, the 2016 local elections seemed to mark a slowdown in the political expansion of the party. Some may see this as a healthy consolidation phase leading to new successes in the near future. Others may argue that, instead, the growth of the League has reached its ‘natural’ limits and this would result in a new period of electoral stagnation or even decline.