IT WAS a “clear and unmitigated defeat”, in the words of the vanquished themselves: Italy’s governing centre-left Democratic Party (PD). On June 19th the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) swept to victory in mayoral run-off ballots in two of Italy’s four biggest cities, Rome and Turin. The results create a formidable challenge for the country’s reforming prime minister, Matteo Renzi, as he prepares to gamble his career on a referendum in the autumn that he hopes will transform Italy into a more governable country.
In the capital, Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, was chosen to be Rome’s first woman mayor. She had been widely predicted to win after topping the first-round ballot. But as Ms Raggi remarked, the size of her victory was “beyond all expectations”. She took more than two-thirds of the vote, trouncing her centre-left opponent.
In Turin, an even younger female candidate caused an even bigger upset: Chiara Appendino, a 32-year-old company executive. Ms Appendino, who had finished second in the opening round, ousted a former leader of Italy’s centre-left, Piero Fassino, by a margin of almost 10 percentage...Continue reading
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