Italy has elected its first ever black senator, a Nigerian immigrant who is a member of the anti-immigration Lega ( League ) party.

Toni Iwobi announced “with great emotion” he had been elected in Brescia, Lombardy, to the upper house of the country’s parliament.

The far-right League became the second-largest party in parliament in Italy’s general election.

In a Facebook post, Mr Iwobi said: “After more than 25 years of battles as part of the League’s great family, I am about to start another great adventure!”

The League’s economics chief cited Mr Iwobi’s election as evidence the party was not racist.

“I’d like to point out that the first black senator in the history of the Italian republic is one of ours,” Claudio Borghi told Reuters.

His comments came after hundreds of African immigrants and Italians protested in Florence for a second day, chanting “no more racism” and criticising the anti-immigrant party for stoking racial tensions after an Italian man shot dead a Senegalese street vendor