2018 Italian general election

2018 Italian general election
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630 seats in the Chamber (C) · 315 seats in the Senate (S)
316 seats needed for a majority in the Chamber
160 seats needed for a majority in the Senate
Opinion polls
Registered46,505,499 (C) · 45,210,950 (S)
Turnout33,923,321 (C) · 72.94% (Decrease 2.26 pp)
31,231,814 (S) · 73.01% (Decrease 2.10 pp)
  First party Second party
 
MatteoSalvini2018 (cropped).jpg
Luigi Di Maio 2018 camera.jpg
Leader Matteo Salvini[1] Luigi Di Maio
Party League Five Star Movement
Alliance Centre-right –
Leader's seat Lazio (S) Acerra (C)
Seats won 245 (C) · 115 (S) 227 (C) · 112(S)
Seat change Increase 139 · Increase 17 Increase 119 · Increase 58
Popular vote 12,152,345 (C)
11,327,549 (S) 		10,732,066 (C)
9,733,928 (S)
Percentage 37.0% (C)
37.5% (S) 		32.7% (C)
32.2% (S)
Swing Increase 7.8 pp (C)
Increase 6.8 pp (S) 		Increase 7.1 pp (C)
Increase 8.4 pp (S)
  Third party Fourth party
 
MatteoRenzi2018 (cropped).jpg
Pietro Grasso Senato (cropped).jpg
Leader Matteo Renzi Pietro Grasso
Party Democratic Party Free and Equal
Alliance Centre-left —
Leader's seat Florence (S) Sicily (S)
Seats won 122 C · 60 S 14 (C) · 4 (S)
Seat change Decrease 227 (C) · Decrease 65 (S) New
Popular vote 7,506,723 (C)
6,947,199 (S) 		1,114,799 (C)
991,159 (S)
Percentage 22.9% (C) · 23.0% (S) 3.4% (C) · 3.3% (S)
Swing Decrease 6.7 pp (C)
Decrease 8.6 pp (S) 		New
Election results maps by constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies (on the left) and for the Senate (on the right).
Prime Minister before election

Paolo Gentiloni
Democratic Party

Prime Minister after the election

Giuseppe Conte
Independent (close to M5S)

The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017.[2] Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 18th legislature of the Italian Republic since 1948. The election took place concurrently with the Lombard and Lazio regional elections.[3] No party or coalition gained an absolute majority in the parliament, even though the centre-right coalition won a plurality of seats as a coalition, and the Five Star Movement (M5S) won a plurality of seats as an individual party.[4]

The centre-right coalition, whose main party was the right-wing League led by Matteo Salvini, emerged with a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, while the anti-establishment M5S led by Luigi Di Maio became the party with the largest number of votes. The centre-left coalition, led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of the governing Democratic Party (PD), came third;[5][6] however, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.[4]

The 2018 Italian government formation lasted three months and the first Conte government was formed on 1 June between the M5S and the League, whose leaders both became deputy prime ministers in a populist coalition government led by the M5S-linked independent Giuseppe Conte as Prime Minister of Italy.[7] The 2019 Italian government crisis started when the League withdrew its support of the government and the coalition ended with Conte's resignation on 20 August.[8] A new M5S-led coalition was formed with the centre-left PD and the Free and Equal left-wing parliamentary group, with Conte at its head, on 5 September 2019.[9][10] Amid the 2021 Italian government crisis, the second Conte government was replaced by a national unity government headed by Mario Draghi.[11]

  1. ^ According to an agreement between the leaders of the three main centre-right parties (Silvio Berlusconi, Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni), the choice of the candidate for prime minister would be up to the party with the most votes within the coalition. Matteo Salvini, being the leader of the most voted party in the alliance, was initially proposed as prime minister by the entire coalition in the consultations with the President of the Republic.
  2. ^ Verderami, Francesco (13 December 2017). "Elezioni 2018, si punta al 27 dicembre per lo scioglimento delle Camere: si vota il 4 marzo". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Election day il 4 marzo: si vota anche per Lazio e Lombardia". Il Messaggero (in Italian). 5 January 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Italy election to result in hung parliament". Deutsche Welle. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Elezioni politiche: vincono M5s e Lega. Crollo del Partito democratico. Centrodestra prima coalizione. Il Carroccio sorpassa Forza Italia". La Repubblica (in Italian). 4 March 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  6. ^ Sala, Alessandro (3 April 2018). "Elezioni 2018: M5S primo partito, nel centrodestra la Lega supera FI". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Italy: Conte to lead 'government of change'" (in Italian). ANSAMed. 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  8. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (20 August 2019). "Italian PM resigns with attack on 'opportunist' Salvini". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  9. ^ Tidey, Alice (5 September 2019). "Conte PM & Di Maio foreign minister as new Italian government sworn in". Euronews. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  10. ^ Fusaro, Carlo (22 September 2019). "Italia Viva, Party System Reform Morta: What Matteo Renzi's split from the PD means for democracy and stability in Italy and beyond". Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional. doi:10.17176/20190922-232352-0. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ Pianta, Mario (April 2021). "Italy's Political Turmoil and Mario Draghi's European Challenges". Intereconomics. 56 (2): 82–85. doi:10.1007/s10272-021-0958-9. PMC 8021634. PMID 33840824. Retrieved 13 February 2022.