turned back boats that have rescued refugees in the Mediterranean, demanding other European countries take in these people.

It's been a wildly successful political formula.

In the elections last year, the Five Star Movement won 32 per cent of the vote. The Lega won just under 18 per cent. Now the opinion polls show the reverse, with the Lega at 34 per cent and Five Star at 17 per cent. This is important because in May, elections for the European Parliament will take place. The parliament doesn't wield huge power, but the vote is a key political snapshot, particularly in Italy, where it could lead to the collapse of the coalition and new national elections.

And so Di Maio has been trying to surf a populist wave of his own. Forseveral weeks he has been blogging and urging the gilets jaunes not to give up. As he explained to the French newspaper Le Monde, "I'm not surprised that the French people show considerable signs of malaise in the face of the dismantling of some of their rights. That's why I wanted to meet the 'gilets jaunes.' I don't think the future of European politics lies in right-wing or left-wing parties."

By not backing away from his provocative stance in the wake of the reaction of the French government, he hopes to claw back some of the electoral support lost to his louder coalition partner.

Macron refers to 'leprosy of populism'

Macron has hardly endeared himself to Italians with his brutal dismissal of its leaders in the last year. He referred to