Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received a significant political boost after her right-wing coalition successfully retained control of Venice in the city’s mayoral election, according to projections released on Monday. The result was viewed as an important victory for Meloni’s governing alliance, especially after the coalition suffered a politically damaging setback earlier this year during a national justice referendum.
The Venice mayoral contest was considered one of the most closely watched local elections in Italy because the city represented the most high-profile battleground among more than 600 municipalities that went to the polls. The local elections also served as the first major electoral test for Meloni’s government since the March referendum defeat, which many analysts described as the most serious political reversal for the prime minister since she took office in 2022.
Venice has been governed by the Italian right wing for approximately a decade, but recent opinion polls have suggested that the centre-left coalition might gain an advantage in the race. Despite those predictions, the centre-right candidate Simone Venturini managed to secure a decisive victory.
According to the latest projections, Venturini won nearly 51 per cent of the vote, comfortably ahead of his main centre-left challenger, who received around 3 per cent support. By crossing the crucial 50 per cent threshold, Venturini avoided a second-round runoff election, allowing the right-wing coalition to secure an outright victory in the first round itself.
Polling company Youtrend officially projected Venturini as the winner, stating that the margin separating the candidates was large enough to make the result effectively certain.
The outcome was quickly celebrated by leaders within Meloni’s coalition, particularly members of her right-wing political party, Brothers of Italy. Giovanni Donzelli, a senior lawmaker from the party, claimed that opposition groups had wrongly assumed Venice would become symbolic evidence of a weakening government.
According to Donzelli, opposition parties had arrived in Venice expecting to create a narrative that Meloni’s coalition was collapsing and losing public support. However, he argued that the election result demonstrated the continued strength of the centre-right bloc among Italian voters.
The Venice election carried additional symbolic importance because the city had recently found itself at the centre of controversy involving Russia’s participation in the Venice Biennale art festival. Political and cultural tensions surrounding the event had increased public attention on the city during the election campaign period.
The municipal elections across Italy are also being viewed as an early indicator of political momentum ahead of the country’s next general election, which is expected next year. Political analysts increasingly believe that Italy’s two major political alliances — the centre-right coalition led by Meloni and the centre-left opposition bloc — are entering a highly competitive race that could shape the nation’s political balance through 2027 and beyond.
Apart from Venice, several other important local contests also produced notable outcomes. In Salerno, located near the famous Amalfi Coast in southern Italy, veteran politician Vincenzo De Luca secured another electoral victory. De Luca, aligned with the centre-left coalition, won a fifth term in local office after previously serving for a decade as regional governor of Campania.
Meanwhile, in the Sicilian city of Messina, former mayor Federico Basile succeeded in winning another term. Basile is considered politically independent and is not formally aligned with either of Italy’s two dominant national political coalitions.
The centre-right also performed strongly in Reggio Calabria, a city where centre-left forces had remained in power since 2014. The shift in political momentum there further strengthened the perception that Meloni’s coalition continues to maintain considerable electoral influence despite recent political setbacks.
Overall, the results of the local elections appear to have stabilised the position of Giorgia Meloni’s government following the disappointment of the March referendum. The Venice victory, in particular, is being interpreted as a morale boost for the Italian right wing at a politically sensitive moment, while also signalling that the battle for the next national election is likely to remain intensely competitive between Italy’s two major political camps.
