Primary elections were first introduced in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
by
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 1995, but were seldom used until before the
2005 regional elections.
In January 2005 the centre-left
The Union coalition held open primaries in order to select its candidate for
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 ...
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 ...
. More importantly, in October 2005, The Union asked its voters to choose the candidate for
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 ...
in the
2006 general election: 4.3 million voters showed up and
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...
won hands down. Two years later, in October 2007: 3.5 million voters of the
Democratic Party were called to elect
Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist and politician. He served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the Italian centre-left opposition until his resignation on 17 February 2009. H ...
as their first leader, the party's constituent assembly and regional leaders.
The centre-right (see
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms (, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi.
History
The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/ Pole of Good Government and the Pole for Freedoms. The former ...
,
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...
,
centre-right coalition and
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 ...
) has held primary elections only at the local level.
Regulatory rules
There are no laws at country level to govern the conduct of any primary election.
In 2004
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
introduced a regional law regulating primaries, but parties are not mandated to hold primaries. As of today, these rules were used in occasion of the
2005 regional election by 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 ...
and
Future Tuscany, and in the
2010 regional election by the
Democratic Party and
Left Ecology Freedom
Left Ecology Freedom (, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President of Apulia. On 17 December 201 ...
.
List of primary elections
The list includes the results of (open) primary elections for prime minister, president of region, mayor of a city with 150,000 inhabitants and leader of major party. All the following primaries were funded and ran by parties, with the sole exception of those for the Regional Council of Tuscany.
:
Highlighted rows denote country-level primary elections.
:O :
Open primary
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
:C:
Closed primary
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
2000s
2010s
2020s
References
{{Reflist
Political party leadership elections in Italy
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...