Far right parties are on the rise across Europe. Italy is no exception to this trend as in 2022 FdI a party with neofascist roots became the largest Italian party.  What does explain the success of radical or “challenger” parties such FdI? To answer this question, the paper analyzes the 2022 Italian general election through the tools of the spatial theory of voting.

Using data collected by the authors the paper examines the most salient policy issues/dimensions (economic policy, immigration, attitudes towards the EU) structuring party competition as well as the strategic positioning of political parties. We show that challenger parties may benefit electorally by adopting extreme positions along the relevant policy dimensions.