Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano quit on Friday (6 September) after a controversy over a consultancy role for his former mistress had become an embarrassment for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.

Sangiuliano, a 62-year-old former journalist, had faced a media storm since self-proclaimed fashion entrepreneur Maria Rosaria Boccia said last month she had been nominated “Adviser to the minister for major events”.