Silvio gives Mara La Bella equality job

Silvio Berlusconi has made a brave appointment to his new cabinet. Yesterday he revealed that the beauteous Mara Carfagna, nicknamed Mara La Bella, will be his minister for equal opportunities. It is a brave move because the Italian Prime Minister has past form with 32-year-old Mara - he once confessed that he fantasised about marrying her, an admission that led to him having to apologise in public to his wife, Veronica Lario.

Ms Carfagna first caught Mr Berlusconi's eye when she came sixth in the 1997 Miss Italy contest. Prior to that she spent six years as a showgirl on a Sunday television programme. Despite appearing semi-nude in a series of photographs published in top-shelf mens' magazines, Ms Carfagna, who is a law graduate, has vowed to uphold traditional family values.

She is one of only four women in Berlusconi's new 22-strong cabinet. He has defended this imbalance by citing the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s decision to have more women than men in his line-up: Berlusconi believes the Spanish team is "too pink" and has warned Zapatero that "he'll have problems leading them".