2022 Italian general election

2022 Italian general election
← 2018 25 September 2022 Next →
400 seats in the Chamber (C) · 200 seats in the Senate (S)
201 seats needed for a majority in the Chamber
104 seats needed for a majority in the Senate
Opinion polls
Registered46,021,956 (C) · 45,210,950 (S)
Turnout29,385,111 (C) · 63.85% (Decrease 9.09 pp)
28,850,840 (S) · 63.81% (Decrease 9.20 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Giorgia Meloni Official 2023 crop.jpg
Enrico Letta in 2024 (cropped).jpg
Leader Giorgia Meloni[1] Enrico Letta
Party Brothers of Italy Democratic Party
Alliance Centre-right Centre-left
Leader's seat L'Aquila (C) Lombardy 1 (C)
Seats won 237 (C) · 115 (S) 84 (C) · 44 (S)
Popular vote 12,305,014 (C)
12,135,847 (S) 		7,340,096 (C)
7,161,688 (S)
Percentage 43.8% (C) · 44.0% (S) 26.1% (C) · 26.0% (S)
Swing Increase 6.8 pp (C)
Increase 6.5 pp (S) 		Increase 3.2 pp (C)
Increase 3.0 pp (S)
  Third party Fourth party
 
Giuseppe Conte 2020 (cropped).jpg
Calenda 2022 (cropped).jpg
Leader Giuseppe Conte Carlo Calenda
Party Five Star Movement Action – Italia Viva
Alliance – –
Leader's seat Lombardy 1 (C) Lazio (S)
Seats won 52 (C) · 28 (S) 21 (C) · 9 (S)
Popular vote 4,333,972 (C)
4,285,894 (S) 		2,186,669 (C)
2,131,310 (S)
Percentage 15.4% (C) · 15.6% (S) 7.8% (C) · 7.7% (S)
Swing Decrease 17.3 pp (C)
Decrease 16.6 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

Mario Draghi
Independent

Prime Minister after the election

Giorgia Meloni
Brothers of Italy

The 2022 Italian general election was a snap election held in Italy on 25 September 2022. After the fall of the Draghi government, which led to a parliamentary impasse, President Sergio Mattarella dissolved Parliament on 21 July, and called for new elections.[2] Regional elections in Sicily were held on the same day. The results of the general election showed the centre-right coalition led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, a right-wing political party with neo-fascist roots,[3][4][5] winning an absolute majority of seats in the Italian Parliament.[6] Meloni was appointed Prime Minister of Italy on 22 October, becoming the first woman to hold the office.[7]

In a record-low voter turnout,[6][8][9] Meloni's party became the largest in Parliament with 26% of the vote;[10] as per the pre-election agreement among the centre-right coalition parties, she became the prime ministerial candidate supported by the winning coalition.[6] The League and Forza Italia suffered losses, polling 8% each, and Us Moderates polled below 1%. The centre-left coalition slightly improved its 2018 results in terms of vote share and seats in percentage with the Democratic Party polling 19% and the Greens and Left Alliance passing the 3% threshold; More Europe and Civic Commitment failed to reach the election threshold. The Five Star Movement defied single-digit polls before the campaign and reached 15%. The Action – Italia Viva alliance polled 7%. Among the others to be represented in Parliament were two regionalist parties: South calls North and the South Tyrolean People's Party. Due to the Rosatellum and its mixed electoral system using parallel voting, the centre-right coalition was able to win an absolute majority of seats, despite receiving 44% of the votes, by winning 83% of the single-member districts under the first-past-the-post of the system.[11][12][13]

As a result of the 2020 Italian constitutional referendum, the size of Parliament was reduced to 400 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 200 members of the Senate of the Republic to be elected, down from 630 and 315, respectively.[14][15] In addition, the minimum voting age for the Senate was the same as for the Chamber (18 years old and no longer 25), which marked the first time the two houses had identical electorates.[16]

Observers commented that the results shifted the geopolitics of the European Union, following right wing populist and far-right gains in France, Spain, and Sweden.[17][18][19][20] It was also noted that the election outcome would mark Italy's first far-right-led government and the country's most right-wing government since 1945.[9][21][22] The newly elected legislature was seated on 13 October, and proceeded to elect Ignazio La Russa, a known admirer of Benito Mussolini, and Lorenzo Fontana, a strong opponent of LGBT rights, as President of the Senate and of the Chamber of Deputies respectively.[23][24] The Meloni Cabinet was sworn in on 22 October,[25][26] and received parliamentary approval through two votes of confidence (one in each House of Parliament) a few days thereafter.[27][28][29]

  1. ^ The coalition had not officially expressed a unitary leader before the elections, having agreed that this should be the expression of the party with the highest number of votes.
  2. ^ "Italy's Mattarella dissolves parliament, election set for 25 September". Euronews. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  3. ^ Donà, Alessia (31 August 2022). "The Rise of the Radical Right in Italy: The Case of Fratelli d'Italia". Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 27 (5). Taylor & Francis: 775–794. doi:10.1080/1354571X.2022.2113216. hdl:11572/352744. S2CID 251987503.
  4. ^ Gautheret, Jérôme (25 September 2022). "The unstoppable rise of Giorgia Meloni, the new figurehead of the Italian radical right". Le Monde. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  5. ^ Winfield, Nicole (26 September 2022). "How a party of neo-fascist roots won big in Italy". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Kirby 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Amante, Angelo; Balmer, Crispian (22 October 2022). "Right-wing Meloni sworn in as Italy's first woman prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference RAI turnout was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference DW results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Kakissis, Joanna; Martin, Rachel (26 September 2022). "Italy will soon be led by the most far-right government it's had since Mussolini". NPR. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference RAI exit poll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters exit poll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC exit poll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Legge costituzionale 19 ottobre 2020, n. 1". Normattiva (in Italian). 19 October 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Forti & Vernetti 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Biariella, Laura (8 July 2021). "Senato: elettorato attivo (anche) ai 18enni". AltaLex. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  17. ^ D'Emilio, Frances; Winfield, Nicole; Zampano, Giada (26 September 2022). "Italy shifts to the right as voters reward Meloni's party". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved 26 September 2022. Updated 27 September 2022 as "First female premier poised to take helm of Italy government".{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  18. ^ Kola, Paulin, ed. (26 September 2022). "Italy elections: Giorgia Meloni's right-wing alliance ahead". BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lemire 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leali & Roberts 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Giuffrida 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Local 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference RAI cabinet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sky TG24 cabinet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cipolla, Alessandro; Imparato, Rosaria (25 October 2022). "Meloni alla Camera, diretta video voto di fiducia al governo: cosa ha detto nella replica la presidente del Consiglio". Money (in Italian). Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  28. ^ "Il Senato vota la fiducia al governo Meloni: 115 sì, 79 no e 5 astenuti" (in Italian). ANSA. 26 October 2022. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  29. ^ "Governo Meloni, le ultime notizie. Fiducia in Senato per l'esecutivo: 115 sì e 79 no". Sky TG24 (in Italian). Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.