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 The Right group (), later called Historical Right () by historians to distinguish it from the right-wing groups of the 20th century, was an Italian conservative parliamentary group during the second half of the 19th century. After 1876, the Histo ...

and the

Historical Left The Left group (), later called Historical Left () by historians to distinguish it from the left-wing groups of the 20th century, was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group ...

, was a minor party after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but also a frequent junior party in government, especially after 1979. It originally represented the right-wing of the Italian liberal movement, while the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

the left-wing. The PLI disintegrated in 1994 following the fallout of the ''

Tangentopoli (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...

'' corruption scandal and was succeeded by several minor parties. The party's most influential leaders were

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...

and Giovanni Malagodi.

History

Origins

The origins of

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

in Italy are with the

, a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, following the

1848 revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. The group was moderately

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 ...

and supported centralised government, restricted

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

regressive tax A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high t ...

ation, and

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

. They dominated Italian politics following the country's unification in 1861, but never formed a party. The Liberals were indeed a loose coalition of local leaders, whose sources of strength were census suffrage and the

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

system. The Right was opposed by its more progressive counterpart, the

, which overthrew

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born in Bologna, then part of the Papal States. With Antonio Montanan and Rodolfo Audinot he founded at Bologna a pape ...

's government during the so-called "parliamentary revolution" of 1876, which brought Agostino Depretis to become

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. However, Depretis immediately began to look for support among Rightists MPs, who readily changed their positions, in a context of widespread

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. This phenomenon, known in Italian as ''

trasformismo ''Trasformismo'' was the method of making a flexible centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the political left and the political right in Italian politics after the Italian unification and before the rise of Benito Musso ...

'' (roughly translatable in English as "transformism" — in a satirical newspaper, the PM was depicted as a

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

), effectively removed political differences in Parliament, which was dominated by an undistinguished liberal bloc with a landslide majority until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Two liberal parliamentary factions alternated in government, a conservative one led by

Sidney Sonnino Sidney Costantino, Baron Sonnino (; 11 March 1847 – 24 November 1922) was an Italian statesman, 19th prime minister of Italy and twice served briefly as one, in 1906 and again from 1909 to 1910. In 1901, he founded a new major newspaper, '' Il ...

and a progressive one led by

, who started as a member of the Historical Left and served as Prime Minister in 1892–1893, 1903–1905, 1906–1909, 1911–1914 and 1920–1921. Giolitti, whose faction was by far the largest, sought to unify the liberal establishment into a united party, the Liberals, in 1913, also with the participation of Sonnino. The Liberals governed in alliance with the

Radicals Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

, the Democrats and, eventually, the Reformist Socialists.

The brief party

At the end of World War I,

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

were introduced. These reforms caused big problems to the Liberals, who found themselves unable to stop the rise of two mass parties, the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI) and the Italian People's Party (PPI), which had taken the control of many local authorities in

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

even before the war. Through the

Christian-democratic 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 a ...

PPI,

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, who were long inactive due to the trauma of the

capture of Rome The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...

and the struggles between the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and the Italian state, started to be involved in politics, in opposition to both the PSI and the liberal establishment, which had governed the country for virtually sixty years. The Parliament was thus fundamentally divided in three different blocs and fragmentation brought about instability, with the Socialists and the rising Fascist instigators of political violence on opposite sides. In this chaotic situation, in 1922 the Liberals re-grouped within the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), which immediately joined an alliance led by the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

and formed with it a joint list for the 1924 general election, transforming the Fascists from a small political force into an absolute-majority party. The PLI, which failed to subdue the Fascists, was banned by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

in 1926, along with all the other parties, while many old Liberal politicians were given prestigious, but not influential, political posts, such as seats in the Senate, which was stripped of any real power by the Fascist reforms.

Post World War II

The PLI was re-established in 1943 by

, a prominent intellectual and senator, whose international recognition and parliamentary membership allowed him to remain a free man during the Fascist regime, despite being an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

himself, and joined the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

. After the end of

, Enrico De Nicola, a Liberal, became "provisional Head of State" and another one,

Luigi Einaudi Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi (; 24 March 1874 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian politician, economist and banker who served as President of Italy from 1948 to 1955 and is considered one of the founding fathers of the 1946 Italian institutional ...

, who as Minister of Economy and Governor of the

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...

between 1945 and 1948 had reshaped Italian economy, succeeded him as

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially titled President of the Italian Republic (), is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity and guarantees that Politics of Italy, Italian politics comply with the Consti ...

. In the 1946 general election the PLI, as part of the National Democratic Union, won 6.8% of the vote, which was somewhat below expectations for a coalition representing the pre-Fascist political establishment. Indeed, the Union was supported by all the survivors of the Italian political class before the rise of Fascism, from

Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (; 19 May 1860 – 1 December 1952) was an Italian statesman, who served as the prime minister of Italy from October 1917 to June 1919. Orlando is best known for representing Italy in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference with ...

to Radical

Francesco Saverio Nitti Francesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paola Nitti (; 19 July 1868 – 20 February 1953) was an Italian economist and statesman. A member of the Italian Radical Party, Nitti served as Prime Minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920. An opponent of the ...

. In its first years, the PLI was home to very different ideological factions and, for instance, it was successively led by

Leone Cattani Leone Cattani (5 January 1906 – 29 October 1980) was an Italian lawyer, politician and Anti-fascism, anti-Fascist activist. Between December 1944 and December 1945 he served as secretary general of the Italian Liberal Party. Later, in 1955, h ...

, a representative of the internal left, and then by Roberto Lucifero, a

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

-conservative. In 1948

Bruno Villabruna Bruno Villabruna (12 August 1884 – 16 October 1971) was an Italian lawyer and liberal politician. Born in Santa Giustina, near Belluno in the Veneto, he was first elected to parliament in 1921. After the rise to power of the fascists, he joined ...

, a moderate, was elected secretary and sought to re-unite all the Liberals under the party (also Cattani, who had left the party after Lucifero's election, returned into the fold).

Giovanni Malagodi

In Giovanni Malagodi the PLI found a consequential leader. Under his 18 years at the head, Malagodi moved the party further to the right on economic issues. This caused in 1956 the exit of the party's left-wing, including Cattani, Villabruna,

Eugenio Scalfari Eugenio Scalfari (; 6 April 1924 – 14 July 2022) was an Italian journalist. He was editor-in-chief of '' L'Espresso'' (1963–1968), a member of Parliament in Italy's Chamber of Deputies (1968–1972), and co-founder of ''La Repubblica'' and ...

and

Marco Pannella Marco Pannella (born Giacinto Pannella; 2 May 1930 – 19 May 2016) was an Italian politician, journalist and activist. He was well known in his country for his nonviolence and civil rights' campaigns, like the 1974 Italian divorce referendum, ...

, who established the Radical Party. In particular, the PLI opposed the new centre-left coalition which also included the

, and presented itself as the main

party in Italy. Malagodi managed to draw some votes from the

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement (, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national conservatism. In 1972, the Itali ...

, the

Monarchist National Party The Monarchist National Party (, PNM) was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded in 1946. It was a right-wing competitor to Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy and was especially strong in Southern Ital ...

and especially

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 ...

, whose electoral base was mainly composed of conservatives suspicious of the Socialists, increasing the party's share to a historical record of 7.0% in the 1963 general election. After Malagodi's resignation from the party's leadership, the PLI was defeated with a humiliating 1.3% in the 1976 general election, but tried to re-gain strength by repositioning in the political centre and supporting social reforms supported by the Radicals, such as

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

The ''Pentapartito''

After

Valerio Zanone Valerio Zanone (22 January 1936 – 7 January 2016) was an Italian politician, who was formerly secretary and president of the Italian Liberal Party (''Partito Liberale Italiano'', PLI). He was also a senator for the Democratic Party (''Partito D ...

took over as party secretary in 1976, the PLI adopted a more

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

and, to some extent,

social-liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited ...

approach. The new secretary opened to the

Socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

, hoping to put in action a sort of "lib–lab" cooperation, similar to the

Lib–Lab pact In British politics, a Lib–Lab pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Democrats (in previous times, the Liberal Party) and the Labour Party. There have been four such arrangements, and one alleged proposal, at the national level. In ...

experimented in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1977 to 1979 between the Labour Party and the Liberals. In 1983 the PLI finally joined the ''

Pentapartito The Pentapartito (from Greek , "five", and Italian , "party"), commonly shortened to CAF (from the initials of Craxi, Andreotti and Forlani), refers to the coalition government of five Italian political parties that formed between June 1981 ...

'' coalition composed also of the

(DC), the

(PSI), the

Italian Democratic Socialist Party The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party, was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy, the PSDI was an important for ...

(PSDI) and the

(PRI). In the 1980s the party was led by

Renato Altissimo Renato Altissimo (4 October 1940 – 17 April 2015) was an Italian politician and minister. Biography He was born in Portogruaro, near Venice. Altissimo was a member of the Italian Liberal Party (''Partito Liberale Italiano''; PLI), a small pa ...

and

Alfredo Biondi Alfredo Biondi (29 June 1928 – 24 June 2020) was an Italian politician and lawyer. In 1994 he served as Italian Minister of Justice, Minister of Justice of the Italian Republic during the first cabinet chaired by Silvio Berlusconi. Biography B ...

. In 1992–1994 the Italian party system was shaken by the uncovering of the

system nicknamed ''Tangentopoli'' by the ''

Mani pulite (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...

'' investigation. In the first months, the PLI seemed immune to investigation. However, as the investigations further unravelled, the party turned out to be part of the corruption scheme, along with its coalition partners. Francesco De Lorenzo, the Liberal

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

, was one of the most loathed politicians in Italy for his corruption, that involved stealing funds from the sick and allowing commercialisation of medicines based on bribes.

Dissolution and diaspora

The party was disbanded on 6 February 1994 and at least four heirs tried to take its legacy: *the

Federation of Liberals The Federation of Liberals (, FdL) was a minor liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded on 6 February 1994 as the legal successor of the Italian Liberal Party (PLI): Alfredo Biondi, incumbent president of the PLI, was elected pr ...

(FdL), led by Raffaello Morelli and

, the official successor party, first joined the Patto Segni, then The Olive Tree; *the Union of the Centre (UdC), led by

Raffaele Costa Raffaele Costa (born 8 September 1936) is an Italian politician. He was the president of the Province of Cuneo from June 2004 to June 2009. He was previously a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies representing the Italian Liberal Party and ...

and Enrico Nan, was an associate party of

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

(FI) and was merged into it in 1998 (other Liberals, including

Antonio Martino Antonio Martino (22 December 1942 – 5 March 2022) was an Italian politician. A founding member of Forza Italia, he served as the minister of foreign affairs in 1994 and minister of defense from 2001 to 2006. Life and career Born in Messina ...

Giuliano Urbani Giuliano Urbani (born 9 June 1937) is an Italian academic and politician. He was the minister of cultural heritage from 2001 to 2005. Early life Urbani was born in Perugia, Umbria, on 9 June 1937. Career and activities Urbani is an academic by ...

Giancarlo Galan Giancarlo Galan (born 10 September 1956) is an Italian politician. Career Born in Padua, Galan was an activist of the Italian Liberal Party in the 1970s and the 1980s. He was not fully active in politics until he joined Forza Italia since its ...

and

Paolo Romani Paolo Romani (born 18 September 1947) is an Italian politician, publisher, journalist and former minister of economic development. Early life Romani was born in Milan on 18 September 1947. He has a high school diploma. Career Romani worked as ...

, directly joined FI); *the

Liberal Left The Liberal Left (''Sinistra Liberale'', SL) was a minor liberalism, liberal faction within the Democrats of the Left, an Italian political party. It was formed basically by former left-wingers of the Italian Liberal Party. Its leaders include Gi ...

(SL) of

Gianfranco Passalacqua Gianfranco is a compound Italian given name, consisting of Gian- and Franco. ''Gian-'' comes from Giovanni and is used in compound names. It is closest to John or French Jean. Gianni means "God is gracious" and Franco means "Free man" or "Frenchma ...

, representing the party's left-wingers, was finally merged into the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

in 2006; *the

Italian Liberal Right The Italian Liberal Right (, DLI) or, simply, Liberal Right, is a minor conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of Italian political parties, political party in Italy. History The party was founded in 1994 by members of the right-wing ...

(DLI), led by Gabriele Pagliuzzi and

Giuseppe Basini Giuseppe Basini (10 February 1947 – 9 May 2025) was an Italian politician. A member of the National Alliance, the Italian Liberal Party, and the Lega Nord, he served in the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2001 and the Chamber of Deputies ...

, joined

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

(AN). In a few years after 1994, most Liberals migrated to FI, while others joined the

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the c ...

, especially

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties with ...

(DL).

Re-foundation

The party was re-founded in 1997 by

Stefano De Luca Stefano De Luca (born 7 April 1942 in Paceco, Sicily) is an Italian politician and lawyer. Biography De Luca was member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1983 to 1994 for the Italian Liberal Party. He also served as Undersecretary at the Ministry ...

and re-took its original name in 2004. The new PLI gathered some of the former right-wing Liberals, but soon distanced itself from the

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 ...

, led by FI, to follow an autonomous path and try to unite all the Liberals, from left to right, in a single party.

Ideology, position, factions

The party's ideological tradition was

, including different variants and factions. Indeed, as the party was at times the bulwark of secular conservatism and monarchism, it has been variously described as

classical-liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econ ...

, conservative-liberal,

liberist ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

(meaning

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...

and/or

right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism". ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

liberal-conservative 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 ...

, and

. The party's political position has been usually described as

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 ...

and to the right of

, but sometimes also

. The party always included more progressive factions, chiefly including the one that broke away to form the Radical Party in 1956, and, under the leadership of

, it arguably became a

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 ...

party: while under Giovanni Malagodi the PLI refused any cooperation with the

, under Zanone and the "lib-lab" pact the party became a close ally of the Socialists. Additionally it held

laicist Laicism (also ''laicity'', from the Ancient Greek "''λαϊκός"'' "''laïkós"'', meaning "layperson" or "non-cleric") refers to a legal and political model based on the strict separation of religion and state. The French term ''laïcité'' ...

positions more similar to the other two centrist parties in the

and

Popular support

Before World Wars the Liberals constituted the political establishment that governed Italy for decades. They had their main bases in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, where many leading liberal politicians of the

and the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

came from, and

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. The Liberals never gained large support after

as they were not able to become a mass party and were replaced by

(DC) as the dominant political force. In the 1946 general election, the first after the war, the PLI gained 6.8% as part of the National Democratic Union. At that time they were strong especially in the South, as DC was mainly rooted in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

: 21.0% in

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, 22.8% in

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

, 10.4% in

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 ...

, 12.8% in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

and 13.6% in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

.Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, ''Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia'', Zanichelli,

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

2009 However, the party soon found its main constituency in the industrial elites of the "industrial triangle" formed by the metropolitan areas of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. The PLI had its best results in the 1960s, when it was rewarded by conservative voters for its opposition to the participation of the

(PSI) in government. The party won 7.0% of the vote in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

(15.2% in Turin, 18.7% in Milan and 11.5% in Genoa) and 5.8% in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. The PLI suffered a decline in the 1970s and settled around 2–3% in the 1980s, when its strongholds were reduced to Piedmont, especially the provinces of

and

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

, and, to a minor extent, western Lombardy, Liguria and Sicily. By the end of the 1980s, similarly to the other parties of the ''

'' coalition (Christian Democrats, Socialists,

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and

Democratic Socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-manage ...

), the Liberals strengthened their grip on the South, while in the North they lost some of their residual votes to

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

. In the 1992 general election, the last before the ''

'' scandals, the PLI won 2.9% of the vote, largely thanks to the increase of votes from the South. After the end of the " First Republic" former Liberals were very influential within

(FI) in Piedmont, Liguria and, strangely enough, in

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 ...

, where a former Liberal,

, was three times elected

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 ...

. The electoral results of the PLI in general (

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

) and

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

elections since 1913 are shown in the chart below.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Election ! Leader ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/– ! Position ! EP Group , - !

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, rowspan=2, , 1,271,159 , 3.6 , , 3 , 7th , rowspan=3, LDR , - !

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 2,140,501 , 6.1 , , 0 , 5th , - !

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, , 1,532,388 , 4.4 , , {{center, {{increase 1 , {{steady 5th {{notelist

Regional elections

{, class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" , - , colspan=6,

Regions of Italy The regions of Italy () are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italy, Italian Republic, constituting its second Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, #Autonomous regio ...

, - ! width=13%, Election year ! width=16%, Votes ! width=6%, % ! width=1%, Seats ! width=8%, +/− ! width=19%, Leader , - !

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, 1,290,715 (6th) , 4.8 , {{Composition bar, 27, 720, hex={{party color, Italian Liberal Party , {{center, – , {{center, Giovanni Malagodi , - !

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 749,821 (7th) , 2.5 , {{Composition bar, 11, 720, hex={{party color, Italian Liberal Party , {{center, {{decrease 16 , {{center,

, - !

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, 816,418 (7th) , 2.7 , {{Composition bar, 15, 720, hex={{party color, Italian Liberal Party , {{center, {{increase 4 , {{center,

, - !

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, 702,273 (7th) , 2.2 , {{Composition bar, 13, 720, hex={{party color, Italian Liberal Party , {{center, {{decrease 2 , {{center,

, - !

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, 630,242 (9th) , 2.0 , {{Composition bar, 13, 720, hex={{party color, Italian Liberal Party , {{center, - , {{center,

Leadership

*Secretary:

Alberto Giovannini Alberto Giovannini (1955 – 25 April 2019) was an Italian Macroeconomist and Financial Economist. His career spanned roles in academia, public and private organizations, and his contributions to monetary policy and financial market infrastructure ...

(1922–1924), Quintino Piras (1924–1926),

Giovanni Cassandro Giovanni Cassandro (21 April 1913 - 10 October 1989) was an Italian Jurist by training, with a particular focus on Legal history. During the 1930s he worked as a government archivist, first in Venice and then in Naples, which gave him the opp ...

(1944),

Manlio Brosio Manlio Brosio (10 July 1897 – 14 March 1980) was an Italian lawyer, diplomat, politician and the fourth Secretary General of NATO between 1964 and 1971. Early life Brosio was born in Turin to Edoardo Brosio and Fortunata Curadelli. He studie ...

(1944–1945),

(1945–1946),

(1946–1947), Roberto Lucifero (1947–1948),

(1948–1954), Alessandro Leone di Tavagnasco (1954), Giovanni Malagodi (1954–1972),

Agostino Bignardi Agostino may refer to: *Agostino (name) * ''Agostino'' (film), an Italian film directed by Mauro Bolognini * ''Agostino'' (novel), a short novel by Alberto Moravia *, an Italian coaster See also *Agostini (disambiguation) *D'Agostino (disambiguati ...

(1972–1976),

(1976–1985),

(1985–1986),

(1986–1993),

(1993–1994) *President: Emilio Borzino (1922–1925),

(1944–1947),

Raffaele De Caro Raffaele De Caro (29 March 1883 – 3 June 1961) was an Italian politician. Started in Freemasonry in the Loggia Manfredi of Benevento on 18 October 1911, he became Mason Master on 9 November 1912 and after his death he was named after a Ma ...

(1947–1961),

Gaetano Martino Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian politician, physician, and university teacher. Early life and medicine Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in Messina, Sicily, son of its Mayor Antonino Martino. He graduated in m ...

(1961–1967),

Vittorio Badini Confalonieri Vittorio Badini Confalonieri (14 March 1914 – 3 August 1993) was an Italian politician and lawyer. Confalonieri was born in Turin in 1914. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Italy in 1946 and subsequently to the Chamber of Deputies f ...

(1967–1972), Giovanni Malagodi (1972–1976),

(1976–1979), Aldo Bozzi (1979–1987), Salvatore Valitutti (1988–1991),

(1991–1993),

(1993–1994) *Party Leader in the

(1946),

(1946–1947),

Epicarmo Corbino Epicarmo Corbino (1890–1984) was an Italian academic and economist who served briefly as the Italian Minister of Economic Development, minister of industry and the Italian Minister of Treasury, minister of treasury in the 1940s. He was among th ...

(1947–1948),

(1948–1961), Giovanni Malagodi (1961–1971), Aldo Bozzi (1971–1987), Paolo Battistuzzi (1987–1993), Savino Melillo (1993–1994)

Symbols

File:Liste 1924 - 02.svg, 1922–1926 File:Logo of the PLI (1944-1949).svg, 1944–1949 File:Logo of the PLI (1949-1979).svg, 1949–1979 File:Logo_of_PLI_(1979-1994).svg, 1979–1994

References

{{reflist {{National Liberation Committee {{Historical Italian political parties {{1950s–1990s Italian political parties {{Authority control 1922 establishments in Italy 1994 disestablishments in Italy Centre-right parties in Europe Classical liberal parties Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Italy Defunct political parties in Italy Formerly banned political parties Liberal parties in Italy Political parties established in 1922 Political parties disestablished in 1994