Identity and Action ( it, Identità e Azione, IDeA) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

, whose membership stretches from

Christian democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by lib ...

. The party's leader is Gaetano Quagliariello, a former minister for Institutional Reforms.

History

The party, whose complete name is Identity and Action – People and Freedom (''Identità e Azione – Popolo e Libertà''), was formed on 25 November 2015 by a group of splinters from the New Centre-Right (NCD), a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and m ...

party which was then part of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

led by

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having b ...

, leader of the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD). Two deputies (

Vincenzo Piso Vincenzo Piso (Rome, June 29, 1958) is an Italian politician. Biography Engaged since his teenage years in politics, he was one of the protagonists of the Roman youth right in the 1970s. He grew up politically in the northern quadrant of the ci ...

and

Eugenia Roccella Eugenia Maria Roccella (born 15 November 1953) is an Italian journalist and politician, who has been serving as Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities in the Meloni Cabinet since 22 October 2022. She is a member of Brothers of ...

) and four senators (

Andrea Augello Andrea Augello (born 24 February 1961) is an Italian politician. Political career In 1995 he was elected Regional Councilor of Lazio with about 7,000 votes, within the list of National Alliance; in 2000 he was re-elected with 15,000 votes, and ...

Luigi Compagna is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's ...

, Carlo Giovanardi and Gaetano Quagliariello) left the NCD because they no longer supported its alliance with the PD. They were joined by two deputies,

Guglielmo Vaccaro Guglielmo Vaccaro (born 23 February 1967 in Pompei) is a centre-left Italian politician of the Democratic Party in the faction around the Prime Minister of Italy, Enrico Letta. Biography Born in Pompei, well known for its archaeological site, ...

(ex-PD, later Unique Italy–IU) and Renata Bueno (

South American Union Italian Emigrants The South American Union of Italian Emigrants ( it, Unione Sudamericana Emigrati Italiani, USEI) is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil. Its leader is , who was elected to ...

–USEI), and several regional politicians, including Davide Bellomo (independent, Apulia),

Stefano Casali Stefano Casali (born 15 October 1962) is a Sammarinese racewalker. He competed in the men's 20 kilometres walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and ...

(

Tosi List for Veneto The Tosi List for Veneto ( it, Lista Tosi per il Veneto, LTV) was a centrist and regionalist political party in Veneto, Italy, named after its leader Flavio Tosi. The party emerged in March 2015 as a split from Liga Veneta–Lega Nord. Its memb ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

), Giovanni Chiodi (independent, former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

) and Vittoriano Solazzi ( Marche 2020,

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

). Since its foundation, IdeA aimed at being part of the larger

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-destra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy, active—under several forms and names—since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed his Forza Italia party. Despite ...

. The party established a particularly close relationship with Unique Italy (IU), of which Quagliariello became speaker in the Senate. In the meantime, the four deputies of IdeA, along with Aniello Formisano of

Italy of Values Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former '' Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the ...

(IdV, a party which had long been part of centre-left coalitions), formed a sub-group, named after the USEI (and, later, "USEI–IdeA"), within the

Mixed Group The mixed group ( it, Gruppo Misto, GM) is a parliamentary group active in both houses of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicame ...

of the Chamber, while the party's four senators joined the heterogeneous

Great Autonomies and Freedom Great Autonomies and Freedom ( it, Grandi Autonomie e Libertà, GAL) was a miscellaneous and highly heterogeneous, mainly centre-right, regionalist and Christian-democratic, parliamentary group active in the Italian Senate. The group was formed ...

(GAL) group. In May 2017 the party changed its allegiance both in the Chamber, where it formed a sub-group with the Union of the Centre (UdC) within the Mixed Group, and the Senate, where it left the GAL group and launched the alternative

Federation of Freedom Federation of Freedom ( it, Federazione della Libertà, FdL) was a centre-right parliamentary group in the Italian Senate. The group was formed in May 2017 by five defectors from the Great Autonomies and Freedom (GAL) group, including four of I ...

(FdL) group along with the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor part ...

(PLI) and others, under Quagliariello's leadership. In December 2017 IdeA was supposed to be a founding member of

Us with Italy Us with Italy ( it, Noi con l'Italia, NcI) is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Italy. NcI started as a federation of minor centre-right parties and, as such, was part of the centre-right coalition in the 2018 g ...

(NcI), a pro-

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

centrist electoral list within the centre-right coalition for the 2018 general election, but finally stood out. NcI was launched by splinters from Popular Alternative (AP – two groups, a Christian-democratic one led by

Maurizio Lupi Maurizio Lupi (born 3 October 1959) is an Italian politician. He served as minister of infrastructure and transport between 28 April 2013 and 20 March 2015. Early life and education Lupi was born in Milan, Italy, on 3 October 1959. He has a deg ...

and a liberal one led by Enrico Costa), Direction Italy (DC),

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his polit ...

(SC), Act! (F!), Cantiere Popolare (CP) and the

Movement for the Autonomies The Movement for Autonomy ( it, Movimento per l'Autonomia, MpA) is a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The MpA, whose founder and leader is Raffaele Lombardo, demands economic development, greater aut ...

(MpA). However, in early January 2018, after that NcI had been joined also by the UdC, IdeA joined too, with the goal of reaching 3%, required to win seats from proportional lists under a new electoral law. In the election the NcI obtained a mere 1.3% of the vote and only Quagliariello was re-elected for IdeA. Soon after the election, the party quit NcI and, along with the UdC, formed a pact with FI and joined its parliamentary group. In the 2019 Basilicata regional election the party obtained 4.2% of the vote.

References

External links

Official website
{{Italian political parties 2015 establishments in Italy Conservative parties in Italy Political parties established in 2015 Social conservative parties European Christian Political Movement