1972 Italian general election

1972 Italian general election

← 1968 7 May 1972 1976 →

All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
316 seats needed for a majority
All 315 elective seats in the Senate
162 seats needed for a majority[a]
Registered37,049,351 (C· 33,739,592 (S)
Turnout34,525,687 (C· 93.2% (Increase0.4 pp)
31,486,399 (S· 93.3% (Increase0.3 pp)
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Arnaldo Forlani 1979.jpg
Enrico Berlinguer 1976.jpg
Francesco De Martino.jpg
Leader Arnaldo Forlani Enrico Berlinguer Francesco De Martino
Party DC PCI PSI
Leader since 9 November 1969 17 March 1972 13 March 1971[c]
Leader's seat Ancona (C) Rome (C) Naples (C)
Seats won 266 (C) / 135 (S) 179 (C) / 94 (S)[b] 61 (C) / 33 (S)
Seat change Steady0 (C) / Steady0 (S) Increase2 (C) / Decrease7 (S) [d]
Popular vote 12,919,270 (C)
11,465,529 (S)
9,072,454 (C)
8,312,828 (S)
3,210,427 (C)
3,225,707 (S)
Percentage 38.7% (C)
38.1% (S)
27.1% (C)
27.6% (S)
10.0% (C)
10.7% (S)
Swing Decrease0.4 pp (C)
Decrease0.3 pp (S)
Increase0.2 pp (C)
Decrease2.4 pp (S)
[d]

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Giorgio Almirante 1976.jpg
Mario Tanassi.jpg
Giovanni Malagodi 1972.jpg
Leader Giorgio Almirante Mario Tanassi Giovanni Malagodi
Party MSI PSDI PLI
Leader since 29 June 1969[e] 24 February 1972[f] 4 April 1954
Leader's seat Rome (C) Rome (C) Milan (C)
Seats won 56 (C) / 26 (S) 20 (C) / 11 (S) 20 (C) / 8 (S)
Seat change Increase32 (C) / Increase15 (S) [d] Decrease11 (C) / Decrease8 (S)
Popular vote 2,894,722 (C)
2,766,986 (S)
1,718,142 (C)
1,613,810 (S)
1,300,439 (C)
1,319,175 (S)
Percentage 8.7% (C)
9.2% (S)
5.1% (C)
5.4% (S)
3.9% (C)
4.4% (S)
Swing Increase4.2 pp (C)
Increase4.6 pp (S)
[d] Decrease1.9 pp (C)
Decrease2.4 pp (S)

Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate

Prime Minister before election

Giulio Andreotti
DC

Prime Minister after the election

Giulio Andreotti
DC

The 1972 Italian general election was held in Italy on 7 May 1972.[1] The Christian Democracy (DC) remained stable with around 38% of the votes, as did the Communist Party (PCI) which obtained the same 27% it had in 1968. The Socialist Party (PSI) continued in its decline, reducing to less than 10%. The largest increase in vote share was that of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, which nearly doubled its votes from 4.5% to about 9%, after its leader Giorgio Almirante launched the formula of the National Right, proposing his party as the sole group of the Italian right wing. After a disappointing result of less than 2%, against the 4.5% of 1968, the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity was disbanded; a majority of its members joined the PCI.


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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010), Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 1048 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7