Us of the Centre ( it, Noi di Centro, NDC), is a minor

Christian-democratic 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 ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, based in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of 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 Islands and the i ...

, where it is known also as Us Campanians (''Noi Campani''). Led by

Clemente Mastella Mario Clemente Mastella (born 5 February 1947) is an Italian politician who has served as the mayor of Benevento since 20 June 2016. He is the leader of Union of Democrats for Europe, a minor centrist Italian party. He was Minister of Labour i ...

, minister of Labour in

Berlusconi I Cabinet The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the Italian Republic. It was the first right-wing and non-Christian Democrats government since World War II. Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994. History In order to win the March ...

(1994–1995), minister of Justice in

Prodi II Cabinet The second Prodi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the only cabinet of the XV Legislatur ...

(2006–2008) and current mayor of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

(since 2016), the party is the successor of the

Union of Democrats for Europe The Union of Democrats for Europe ( it, Unione Democratici per l'Europa, UDEUR), also known as UDEUR Populars (''Popolari UDEUR''), was a minor centrist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Clemente Mastella, minister of Labour ...

(UDEUR).

History

In the summer of 2020 Mastella re-organised his followers under the banner of Us Campanians, which obtained 4.4% of the vote and 2 regional councillors, in support of the outgoing President

Vincenzo De Luca Vincenzo De Luca (born 8 May 1949) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party, currently serving as President of the Campania region since 18 June 2015. De Luca also served as Mayor of Salerno for more than 17 years, becoming one ...

of 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) in the

2020 Campania regional election The 2020 Campanian regional election took place in Campania, Italy, on 20 and 21 September 2020. It was originally scheduled to take place on 31 May 2020, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic in Italy. Electoral system The Regional ...

. In the 2021 local elections Mastella was re-elected mayor of Benevento. In November 2021 Mastella launched Us of the Centre in order to compete in countrywide elections. In December, during a party assembly in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Mastella was elected secretary and Giorgio Merlo, a journalist and former long-time deputy of the Italian People's Party (PPI),

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

and the PD from

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, president. Subsequently, Mastella's wife Sandra Lonardo, elected

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

(FI) in the 2018 general election, left that party and joined

Cambiamo! Cambiamo! (, also stylized as C!) is a centre-right political party in Italy, led by Giovanni Toti. History Background and beginnings In June 2019, after the European Parliament election, Silvio Berlusconi appointed Giovanni Toti, president o ...

's sub-group in the Senate's

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. The groups comprise all the deputies and the senators, respectively, who are not members of ...

, whose name was changed in order to include "Us of the Centre (Us Campanians)" (the sub-group's main name would soon become "

Italy in the Centre Italy in the Centre ( it, Italia al Centro, IaC) is a liberal-conservative political party in Italy led by Giovanni Toti. History In August 2019, Giovanni Toti left his former party Forza Italia (FI), and formed Cambiamo! (C!). In May 2021, C! ...

"). In June 2022, during a party convention in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Mastella proposed an alliance with

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 been ...

Italia Viva Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). History Background Matteo Renzi started ...

(IV) and

Giovanni Toti Giovanni Toti (born 7 September 1968) is an Italian journalist and politician, who has been President of Liguria since June 2015. Toti was also elected to the European Parliament, following the 2014 European Parliament election. Biography Born ...

(IaC), in a sort of re-edition of the Daisy, which put the UDEUR together with the PPI, The Democrats and

Italian Renewal Italian Renewal ( it, Rinnovamento Italiano, RI) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was a member of The Olive Tree and centre-left coalition, while also affiliated to the European People's Party from 1998 to 2004. H ...

in the run-up of the 2001 general election. Mastella then announced he would run by himself, along with

Europeanists Europeanists ( it, Europeisti) is a political party in Italy. Amid a 2021 Italian government crisis, government crisis triggered after Matteo Renzi announced that he would revoke Italia Viva's support to the Conte II Cabinet, government of Giusepp ...

to avoid to collect signatures.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Leadership

*Secretary:

(2021–present) *President: Giorgio Merlo (2021—present)

References

External links

Official website
{{Italian political parties Political parties in Campania Christian democratic parties in Italy Catholic political parties Centrist parties in Italy Political parties established in 2020 2020 establishments in Italy