Identity and Action (, IDeA) is a

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

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

, whose membership stretches from

Christian democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

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 libe ...

. The party's leader is

Gaetano Quagliariello Gaetano Quagliariello (born 23 April 1960) is an Italian politician, former Minister of Constitutional Reforms and current leader of Identity and Action party. Biography Quagliariello was born in Naples in 1960. During the University he was ...

, 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 New Centre-Right (, NCD) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's reformation as Forza Italia (2013), Forza Italia (FI) ...

(NCD), a

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

party which was then part of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

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 bee ...

, leader of the

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

Democratic Party (PD). Two deputies ( Vincenzo Piso and Eugenia Roccella) and four senators ( Andrea Augello, Luigi Compagna, 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 (ex-PD, later Unique Italy–IU) and

Renata Bueno Renata is a feminine given name of European origin, and a New Zealand surname. The name is of Latin origin of Renatus. The cognate names include Renée and Renate. Notable people with the given name Renata include: * Renata Adler (born 193 ...

(

South American Union Italian Emigrants The South American Union of Italian Emigrants () is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil. Its leader is , who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2018 general ele ...

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

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

), Stefano Casali (

Tosi List for Veneto The Tosi List for 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 members were instrumental in t ...

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

), 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

) and Vittoriano Solazzi ( Marche 2020,

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

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

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed the party. It has mostly competed with the centre-left c ...

. 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 (, 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 party in 2014. IdV has ai ...

(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 (, 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 bicameral legislature. ...

of the Chamber, while the party's four senators joined the heterogeneous Great Autonomies and Freedom (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 (FdL) group along with the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...

(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 (, NcI) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative and Christian democracy, 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 ...

(NcI), a pro-

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

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 Enzo 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 ...

and a liberal one led by Enrico Costa),

Direction Italy Direction Italy (, DI) was a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. The party was led by Raffaele Fitto, an Member of the European Parliament, MEP in the European Conservatives and ...

(DC),

Civic Choice Civic Choice (; 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 political agenda. In t ...

(SC),

Act! ACT! (previously known as Sage ACT! 2010–2013) is a customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation software platform designed for, and used by, small and mid-sized businesses. It has a user base of over 800 thousand re ...

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

Movement for the Autonomies Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

(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
{{European Christian Political Movement 2015 establishments in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Conservative parties in Italy Political parties established in 2015 Socially conservative parties European Christian Political Party