The candidate of the League-led center-right coalition is expected to win handily in Calabria, a stronghold in the conservative south, but if the League candidate manages to win the governorship in Emilia-Romagna, it would be a huge step for League leader Matteo Salvini as he plots his political comeback and seeks his revenge on his former partners, the Five Star Movement. For months, opinion polls have consistently shown that the far-right, anti-migrant League is the most popular political party in the country.

Readers outside Italy may or may not remember the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the last Italian government over the summer, but in any case, here's a quick refresher. After weeks of intrigue, then-Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio outflanked League leader Matteo Salvini, his fellow co-deputy PM, and managed to form a new ruling coalition led by Five Star and the center-left Democratic Party, while banishing Salvini - whose decision to dissolve the government to try and r