The centre left lost Pisa, Siena, Massa, Ancona and Brindisi to the centre right.
The three Tuscan victories were holds for the centre right, while Brindisi had been ruled by the centre right in the past, but Ancona was a major gain for the majority that rules in Rome: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s rightwing League party, and three-time ex-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi’s centre right Forza Italia (FI) party.
The centre right won Ancona after more than 30 years of centre-left rule in the Marche capital, two-and-a-half years after the centre right won the regional government for the first time.
Daniele Silvetti got 51.73 per cent of the vote in the mayoral run-off, beating outgoing centre-left councillor Ida Simonella who got 48.27 per cent.
Meloni said the victory was a historic one and showed that there were no more fiefs or strongholds of the centre left that could not be conquered.
“We have obtained good results and some victories that could be defined as historic, like in Ancona, confirming the fact that strongholds no longer exist,” she said in a video message.
“The centre-right has won.”
Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein said the centre left had suffered a “clear” defeat that showed that the headwinds that had blown the right to victory in last September’s general election were still strong.
“It’s a clear defeat. The win in favour of the right is still strong and is still there.
“We thank all those who made the effort, our candidates, in these elections. They knew it would be difficult, it takes time to build a winning centre left. The fact that the PD is the top party in the list vote is not a consolation.
“It is evident that you can’t win on your own,” she added, stressing the need to build alliances on the centre left with the 5-Star Movement or the so-called Third Pole, which at the moment are mutually exclusive and with the latter saying Schlein is too far to the left.
Salvini mocked the “Schlein effect” after the centre right did so well.
“Nothing to say: a very good Schlein Effect,” quipped Salvini on Twitter.
“Extraordinary results for the League and the centre-right throughout Italy, with historic victories in Ancona – the only regional capital on the ballot, which has always been administered by the left – and Brindisi, a triumph in Tuscany with the re-conquest of Massa, Pisa and Siena, while waiting for the results of the first round in Sicily in which we are very confident.”
ANSA
