Politics of Lombardy

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The politics of Lombardy, a region of Italy, takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of the Region is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Regional Council of Lombardy, while executive power is exercised by the Regional Government led by the President, who is directly elected by the people. The current Statute, which regulates the functioning of the regional institutions, has been in force since 2008.

Contents

Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Lombardy were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades. Lombardy was also the birthplace of the Italian Workers' Party, forerunner of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), and its eastern and northern provinces were an early stronghold of the Italian People's Party. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Lombardy was one of the few regions, along with Veneto and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party. After World War II Lombardy became a stronghold of the Christian Democracy, since the 1980s in association with the PSI, which was especially strong in Milan. [1]

Traditionally, Lombardy gives centrist results in elections, reflecting its strong middle class. The Communists and their successors – the Democratic Party of the Left, the Democrats of the Left and the present-day Democratic Party – never prevailed. [1] In the 1980s Lombardy saw the organisation of a new regionalist party, the Lombard League (LL), then merged into the Northern League (LN) in the 1990s.

Lombardy is now a stronghold of the "centre-right coalition" composed of the LN and the liberal conservative Forza Italia (FI), founded by Lombard entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi. The coalition, which was joined by the LN in 2000, has governed the region since 1995, under three Presidents, Roberto Formigoni (CDU/FI/PdL), Roberto Maroni (LN) and Attilio Fontana (LN).

On 22 October 2017 an autonomy referendum took place in Lombardy: 38.3% of Lombards participated and 95.3% voted "yes".

Legislative branch

Composition of the Regional Council since 2023: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} FdI (22) PD (18) Lega (14) FI (6) Fontana List (5) Moratti List (4) M5S (3) A-IV (3) Majorino List (2) AVS (1) NM (1) Lombardy Council 2023.svg
Composition of the Regional Council since 2023:
  FdI (22)
  PD (18)
  Lega (14)
  FI (6)
  Fontana List (5)
  Moratti List (4)
  M5S (3)
  A–IV (3)
  Majorino List (2)
  AVS (1)
  NM (1)
Composition of the Regional Council by coalition since 2023: Centre-right (49) Centre-left (24) Action - Italia Viva (7) Lombardy Council coalition 2023.svg
Composition of the Regional Council by coalition since 2023:
  Centre-right (49)
  Centre-left (24)
  Action – Italia Viva (7)

The Regional Council of Lombardy is composed of 80 members. 64 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while 16 councillors (elected in a general ticket) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the Council with PR, as happened during the 2000 election, only 8 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 72. If the winning coalition receives less than 50% of votes, as happened during the 1995 election, special seats are added to the Council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition. [2] [3] [4]

The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent clause introduced in 1999 (literally they will stand together or they will fall together), also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called. [5] [6]

2023–2028 composition

Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council
Political Group2023Now
Brothers of Italy 2222
Democratic Party 1818
Lombard League–Lega 1414
Forza Italia 66
Ideal Lombardy–Fontana for President 55
Moratti for President 44
Five Star Movement 33
Action–Italia Viva 33
Civic Pact–Majorino for President 22
Greens and Left Alliance 11
Us Moderates 11

Source: Regional Council of Lombardy

Executive branch

Palazzo Lombardia in Milan is the seat of the Regional Government Piazza Lombardia della Regione Lombardia 1.jpg
Palazzo Lombardia in Milan is the seat of the Regional Government

The Regional Cabinet (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is currently composed by 17 members: the President and 16 regional Assessors, including a Vice President (Vice Presidente), while 4 under-secretaries (Sottosegretari) help the President but have no voting rights in the cabinet meetings. [7]

Current composition

Attilio Fontana was officially sworn in for a second term as President on 1 March 2023. [8] Current executive was officially sworn in on 10 March 2023. [9]

Current composition

PartyMembers
Lega Lega President and 5 assessors
Brothers of Italy FdIVice President and 6 assessors
Forza Italia FI2 assessors
Ideal LombardyLI2 assessors
AssessorPartyDelegate for
Marco Alparone
(vice president)		FdIFinance and budget
Guido Bertolaso LIHealthcare and welfare
Giorgio MaioneLIEnvironment and climate
Claudia Terzi LegaPublic infrastructures
Franco LucenteFdIPublic transports and sustainable mobility
Romano La RussaFdIPublic security and Civil Protection
Simona TironiFIEducation and labour
Alessandro FermiLegaUniversity and research
Guido GuidesiLegaEconomic development
Elena LucchiniLegaFamily, social policies, disability and equal opportunities
Paolo FrancoFdISocial housing
Barbara MazzaliFdITourism, marketing and fashion
Massimo SartoriLegaLocal authorities and mountains
Francesca CarusoFdICultural heritage
Alessandro BeduschiFdIAgricolture, food policies and food sovereignty
Gianluca ComazziFIRegional parks and territory

List of presidents

The current President of Lombardy is Attilio Fontana, who is serving his second term after winning the 2023 regional election.

PresidentTerm of officePartyAdministrationCoalitionLegislature
Duration in years, months and days
Presidents elected by the Regional Council (1970–1995)
1 Pierobassetti2011.jpg Piero Bassetti
(Born 1928)		29 July
1970		27 June
1974		 DC Bassetti DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI I
(1970)
3 years, 10 months and 30 days
2 Cesare Golfari Senato.jpg Cesare Golfari
(1932–1994)		27 June
1974		1 October
1979		 DC Golfari I DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI
Golfari II DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI II
(1975)
5 years, 3 months and 5 days
3 Fondazione Cariplo - Giuseppe Guzzetti.jpg Giuseppe Guzzetti
(Born 1934)		1 October
1979		17 July
1987		 DC Guzzetti I DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI
Guzzetti II DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI III
(1980)
Guzzetti III DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI IV
(1985)
7 years, 9 months and 17 days
4 Bruno Tabacci daticamera 2013.jpg Bruno Tabacci
(Born 1946)		17 July
1987		31 January
1989		 DC Tabacci DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI
1 year, 6 months and 15 days
5 Italy politic personality icon.svg Giuseppe Giovenzana
(Born 1940)		31 January
1989		12 December
1992		 DC Giovenzana I DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI
Giovenzana II DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI V
(1990)
3 years, 10 months and 13 days
6 Italy politic personality icon.svg Fiorella Ghilardotti
(1946–2005)		12 December
1992		4 June
1994		 PDS Ghilardotti DC  • PDS  • PSI  • FdV  • PSDI
1 year, 5 months and 24 days
7 Italy politic personality icon.svg Paolo Arrigoni
(1957–2022)		4 June
1994		27 June
1995		 LN Arrigoni PPI  • LN  • PDS
1 year and 24 days
Directly-elected presidents (since 1995)
8 Roberto Formigoni 2008.jpg Roberto Formigoni
(Born 1947)		27 June
1995		18 March
2013		 CDU Formigoni I Pole for Freedoms
(FI  • AN  • CDU  • CCD)		 VI
(1995)
FI Formigoni II House of Freedoms
(FI  • LN  • AN  • CDU  • CCD)		 VII
(2000)
Formigoni III House of Freedoms
(FI  • LN  • AN  • UDC)		 VIII
(2005)
PdL Formigoni IV PdL  • LN IX
(2010)
17 years, 8 months and 20 days
9 Roberto Maroni 2010 (cropped).jpg Roberto Maroni
(1955–2022)		18 March
2013		26 March
2018		 LN Maroni LN  • FI  • FdI X
(2013)
5 years and 9 days
10 Attilio Fontana 2019.jpg Attilio Fontana
(Born 1952)		26 March
2018		Incumbent Lega Fontana I Lega  • FI  • FdI XI
(2018)
5 years, 6 months and 23 daysFontana II FdI  • Lega  • FI XII
(2023)

Local government

Provinces

Lombardy is divided in twelve provinces, which are a traditional form of local administration in the region, the first ones being yet established under Habsburg rule by Maria Theresa of Austria in the 18th century. Socialist and Christian-democratic ideas had an early diffusion in quite all the provinces around World War I. After the Fascist parenthesis, left-wing parties found their strongholds in south-eastern agricultural provinces near Emilia, especially in the Province of Mantua, while Christian Democracy obtained high scores in the northern mountainous part of the Region, where nowadays the Lega Lombarda–Lega gets a strong backing.

After the 2014 reform of local authorities the Province of Milan was replaced by the new Metropolitan City of Milan. Since 2014 the president of the province is no more elected directly by citizens, but is chosen by mayors and councilors of the municipalities of the province.

ProvinceInhabitantsPresidentPartyElection
Metropolitan City of Milan
(former Province of Milan)		3,237,101 Giuseppe Sala
(metropolitan mayor)		Independent [lower-alpha 1] 2021
Brescia 1,254,322 Emanuele Moraschini Independent (Forza Italia)2023
Bergamo 1,102,670 Pasquale Gandolfi Democratic Party 2021
Varese 878,059 Marco Magrini Independent (Democratic Party)2023
Monza and Brianza 870,112 Luca Santambrogio Lega 2019
Como 594,657 Fiorenzo Bongiasca Independent (Democratic Party)2022
Pavia 534,691 Giovanni Palli Lega 2021
Mantua 404,440 Carlo Bottani Independent (Forza Italia)2021
Cremona 351,287 Paolo Mirko Signoroni Democratic Party 2019
Lecco 332,435 Alessandra Hofmann Forza Italia 2021
Lodi 227,064 Fabrizio Santantonio Democratic Party 2022
Sondrio 178,208 Davide Menegola Independent (Forza Italia)2023

Municipalities

Lombardy is also divided in 1,546 comuni (municipalities), which have even more history, having been established in the Middle Ages when they were the main places of government. There are twelve provincial capital cities in Lombardy and twenty-four comuni have more than 40,000 inhabitants, most of which are ruled by the centre-left.

Provincial capitals

MunicipalityInhabitantsMayorPartyElection
Milan (list)1,371,498 Giuseppe Sala Independent (Democratic Party)2021
Brescia (list)196,850 Laura Castelletti Independent (Democratic Party)2023
Monza (list)122,099 Paolo Pilotto Democratic Party 2022
Bergamo (list)120,207 Giorgio Gori Democratic Party 2019
Como (list)83,626 Alessandro Rapinese Independent2022
Varese (list)78,875 Davide Galimberti Democratic Party 2021
Pavia (list)71,159 Fabrizio Fracassi Lega 2019
Cremona (list)70,943 Gianluca Galimberti Democratic Party 2019
Mantua (list)48,648 Mattia Palazzi Democratic Party 2020
Lecco (list)47,060 Mauro Gattinoni Democratic Party 2020
Lodi (list)44,793 Andrea Furegato Democratic Party 2022
Sondrio (list)21,180 Marco Scaramellini Lega 2023

    Others with 40,000+ inhabitants

    MunicipalityInhabitantsMayorPartyElection
    Busto Arsizio 82,981 Emanuele Antonelli Brothers of Italy 2021
    Sesto San Giovanni 79,732 Roberto Di Stefano Lega 2022
    Cinisello Balsamo 74,534 Giacomo Ghilardi Lega 2023
    Vigevano 62,384 Andrea Ceffa Lega 2020
    Legnano 59,816 Lorenzo Radice Democratic Party 2020
    Gallarate 52,826 Andrea Cassani Lega 2021
    Rho 50,604 Pietro Romano Democratic Party 2021
    Paderno Dugnano 47,084 Ezio Casati Democratic Party 2019
    Cologno Monzese 46,790 Stefano Zanelli Democratic Party 2023
    Lissone 46,142 Laura Borella Lega 2022
    Seregno 44,832 Alberto Rossi Democratic Party 2023
    Desio 41,635 Simone Gargiulo Democratic Party 2021
    Rozzano 41,437 Gianni Ferretti Forza Italia 2019

      Parties and elections

      Latest regional election

      In the latest regional election, which took place on 12–13 February 2023, Attilio Fontana (Lega Lombarda–Lega) was re-elected President of Lombardy with the support of centre-right coalition.

      12–13 February 2023 Lombard regional election results
      Lombardy Council 2023.svg
      CandidatesVotes %SeatsPartiesVotes %Seats
      Attilio Fontana 1,774,47754.671
      Brothers of Italy 725,40225.1822
      League – Lombard League 476,17516.5314
      Forza Italia 208,4207.236
      Fontana for President177,3876.165
      Us Moderates – Renaissance 33,7111.171
      Total1,621,09556.2748
      Pierfrancesco Majorino 1,101,41733.931
      Democratic Party 628,77421.8217
      Five Star Movement 113,2293.933
      Civic Pact – Majorino for President110,1263.822
      Greens and Left Alliance 93,0193.231
      Total945,14832.8023
      Letizia Moratti 320,3469.87–Moratti for President152,6525.304
      Action – Italia Viva 122,3564.253
      Total275,0089.557
      Mara Ghidorzi49,5141.53– People's Union 39,9131.39–
      Total candidates3,245,754100.002Total parties2,881,164100.0078
      Source: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections

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      References

      1. 1 2 Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
      2. ↑ "Regional Council of Lombardy – Electoral law". Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
      3. ↑ "Regional Council of Lombardy – Scheme for allocation of seats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
      4. ↑ Ministry of the Interior – Electoral Archive
      5. ↑ "Regional Council of Lombardy – 1999 Constitutional Law" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
      6. ↑ "Regional Council of Lombardy – Autonomy Statute". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
      7. ↑ Lombardy Region – Regional Cabinet
      8. ↑ LombardiaNotizie Online (1 March 2023). "La Corte d'Appello di Milano ha proclamato Fontana presidente della Lombardia" [Milan's Court of Appeal has proclaimed Fontana as President of Lombardy] (in Italian). Retrieved 3 March 2023.
      9. ↑ LombardiaNotizie Online (10 March 2023). "Fontana bis, ecco la nuova Giunta della Regione Lombardia" [Fontana bis, here's the next executive of Lombardy Region] (in Italian). Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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