Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the big winner of the European election results in Italy, with her hard-Right Brothers of Italy party taking 29 per cent of the vote.

That is more than the 26 per cent the party won when it formed the government in the autumn of 2022.

The Italian prime minister hailed her party’s success at the polls, posting on social media a photo of herself making the V for victory sign with her fingers.

“Thank you! Brothers of Italy has maintained its place as the top Italian party, surpassing the results of the general election (in 2022),” she said.

It was the best performance by any party, with the centre-Left Democratic Party in second place with 24.5pc.

Ms Meloni’s main “frenemy” – Matteo Salvini, deputy PM, leader of The League and rival for Right-wing votes – had a bad night, winning just 8.5pc of votes. That firmly cements him as a junior partner in the coalition.

The projected results consolidate Ms Meloni’s position at home and boost her standing internationally.

Her party has won around four times the vote that it garnered in the last EU election in 2019, illustrating a remarkable rise in popularity.

The strong performance contrasted sharply with the woeful fortunes of Emmanuel Macron in France and Olaf Scholz in Germany, whose parties suffered a drubbing.

“Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni was a clear winner, as her Brothers of Italy finished first, likely improving on its 2022 national elections results, to also become the biggest party in the far-Right European Conservatives and Reformists group – now the fourth biggest bloc in the European Parliament,” said the political consultancy Eurasia Group.

Ms Meloni, along with Marine Le Pen, has emerged “significantly strengthened”, said Pawel Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“Giorgia Meloni, with a strong position of her party in the EP (European Parliament) and as a government leader in Italy, will be pivotal in shaping the next EU leadership and the EU’s strategic agenda. She can balance cooperation with both the radical Right and the centre-Right on various issues, making her crucial to the EU’s direction in the coming years.”