Lega Lombarda
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Lega Lombarda ( en, Lombard League; abbr. LL), whose complete name is ( en, Lombard League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist
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 ideological or p ...
active in Lombardy. Established in 1984, it was one of the founding "national" sections of Lega Nord (LN) in 1991 and has been the regional section of
Lega per Salvini Premier Lega ( en, League), whose official name is Lega per Salvini Premier ( en, League for Salvini Premier; abbr. LSP or LpSP), is a right-wing populist political party in Italy, led by Matteo Salvini. The LSP is the informal successor of Lega Nord ( ...
(LSP) in Lombardy since 2020. Along with
Liga Veneta Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and ...
, the LL has formed the bulk of the federal party (LN/LSP), which was led by Lombards since its foundation. The LL is currently led by a pro-tempore coordinator, Federico Cecchetti. Members of the party have included
Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...
,
Roberto Maroni Roberto Ernesto Maroni (; 15 March 1955 – 22 November 2022) was an Italian politician from Varese and a past President of Lombardy. He was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padan ...
, Roberto Calderoli, Giancarlo Giorgetti,
Francesco Speroni Francesco Enrico Speroni (born 4 October 1946, in Busto Arsizio) is an Italian politician. Career Speroni has been flight engineer from 1970 to 1997, remaining on leave since 1989. A member of the Northern League, Speroni has been a Member of t ...
,
Roberto Castelli Roberto Castelli (born 12 July 1946) is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the second and third governments of Silvio Berlusconi. He has been one of the main representatives of the Northern League. Early life and education ...
,
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party s ...
, Gian Marco Centinaio and
Attilio Fontana Attilio Fontana (born 28 March 1952) is an Italian politician from Varese, Lombardy. He has served as President of Lombardy since 2018 leading a centre-right coalition. Biography Early political career A long-time member of Lega Lombarda and Lega ...
(
President of Lombardy The president of Lombardy is the supreme authority of Lombardy, the most populated region of Italy. Election Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Lombardy, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', the president is elected by pop ...
).


History


Foundation and formation of Lega Nord

Lega Lombarda was officially founded on 12 April 1984 by
Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...
, who used the resonance of the name of the historical '' Lega Lombarda'' when choosing the name. Originally Lega Autonomista Lombarda (Lombard Autonomist League, LAL), the party took the current name in 1986. At its electoral debut in the 1987 general election, Lega Lombarda gained 2.6% of the vote in Lombardy. Bossi was elected to the Senate and Giuseppe Leoni to the Chamber of Deputies. The party participated in the
1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was the third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other m ...
as the leading member of the coalition named Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord, obtaining 8.1% in Lombardy and two
MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
elected (
Francesco Speroni Francesco Enrico Speroni (born 4 October 1946, in Busto Arsizio) is an Italian politician. Career Speroni has been flight engineer from 1970 to 1997, remaining on leave since 1989. A member of the Northern League, Speroni has been a Member of t ...
and
Luigi Moretti Luigi Walter Moretti (2 January 1907 – 14 July 1973) was an Italian architect. Active especially in Italy since the thirties, he designed buildings such as the Watergate Complex in Washington DC, The Academy of Fencing, and ''Il Girasole'' (" ...
). In 1989–1990 the LL took part in the process of federating the Northern regionalist parties, ahead of the regional elections. In February 1991 it was merged into Lega Nord (LN) and since then it has been the "national" section of the LN in Lombardy. Bossi was subsequently elected federal secretary of the LN, while maintaining the role of national secretary of the LL for a while.


Negri, Calderoli, Giorgetti

In 1993 Luigi Negri took over as secretary, replacing Bossi, who had to choose between national and federal office. After the 1994 general election, three LL members joined
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 ...
as ministers:
Roberto Maroni Roberto Ernesto Maroni (; 15 March 1955 – 22 November 2022) was an Italian politician from Varese and a past President of Lombardy. He was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padan ...
(who had become the federal party's number two, after Bossi),
Vito Gnutti Vito Gnutti (14 September 1939 – 6 December 2008) was an Italian politician. Biography A member of the Executive Committee of Confindustria, in 1991 Gnutti joined the Northern League. He has been MP from 1992 to 2001 and in 1994 he served as ...
and Speroni. The break-up of the coalition supporting the government led Negri and others to defect to the
Federalist Italian League The Federalist Italian League (''Lega Italiana Federalista'', LIF) was a short-lived federalist and liberal political party in Italy. History The party was founded by dissident members of Northern League on 13 February 1995, including Luigi Ne ...
, while Maroni, despite disagreements with Bossi, chose to stay in the party. Negri was replaced as secretary by Roberto Calderoli, who, as president, had evicted him from the party, despite being his brother-in-law. Calderoli led the party to its best result up to that point in the 1996 general election, when it gained 25.5%. After the 2000 regional election, the party joined the regional government and has since been a member of it, with no exceptions. After the 2001 general election, three LL members joined
Berlusconi II Cabinet The second Berlusconi government was the 57th government of the Italian Republic and the first government of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until 23 April 2005, a total of 1,412 ...
as ministers: Bossi, Maroni and
Roberto Castelli Roberto Castelli (born 12 July 1946) is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the second and third governments of Silvio Berlusconi. He has been one of the main representatives of the Northern League. Early life and education ...
. In 2002 Calderoli was replaced by Giancarlo Giorgetti, while Castelli became president. In the 2010 regional election the party gained 26.2%, its best result so far.


Leadership of Salvini

In 2002 Giorgetti decided to step down from national secretary and the party elected its new leadership at a congress in June.
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party s ...
ran as candidate of the faction around
Roberto Maroni Roberto Ernesto Maroni (; 15 March 1955 – 22 November 2022) was an Italian politician from Varese and a past President of Lombardy. He was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padan ...
, while Cesarino Monti was the candidate of the old guard and of Bossi's loyalists. Salvini won the election with 74% of the votes, that is to say the support of 403 delegates out of 532. Soon after, Giorgetti was appointed national president. In July 2012 Maroni was elected federal secretary of the LN by its federal congress. The Lombard delegates elected six members to the federal council: Giacomo Stucchi, Paolo Grimoldi,
Andrea Mascetti Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...
, Gianni Fava, Simona Bordonali, and, on behalf of the minority, Marco Desiderati. In the 2013 regional election Maroni was elected
President of Lombardy The president of Lombardy is the supreme authority of Lombardy, the most populated region of Italy. Election Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Lombardy, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', the president is elected by pop ...
with 42.8% of the vote.


Leadership of Grimoldi

In November 2013 Salvini succeeded to Maroni as Lega Nord's federal secretary and, later on, he appointed a commissioner, Stefano Borghesi, to fill the post. Borghesi was later replaced by Grimoldi. In November 2015 Grimoldi was elected national secretary of the party. In May 2017, after Salvini's re-election as LN federal secretary, five LL members (Bordonali, Fabrizio Cecchetti, Giulio De Capitani, Simona Pergreffi and Jacopo Vignati) were elected to the federal council with Salvini, a sixth (Giorgetti) was elected as an independent and a seventh ( Gianni Fava) on behalf of the minority. In December Stucchi was elected president of LL, replacing Giorgetti, who whose more and more involved at the federal level as deputy of Salvini. In the 2018 regional election LL's
Attilio Fontana Attilio Fontana (born 28 March 1952) is an Italian politician from Varese, Lombardy. He has served as President of Lombardy since 2018 leading a centre-right coalition. Biography Early political career A long-time member of Lega Lombarda and Lega ...
was elected President of Lombardy with 49.8% of the vote and the party obtained 29.4%.


Re-foundation

Following the formation of
Lega per Salvini Premier Lega ( en, League), whose official name is Lega per Salvini Premier ( en, League for Salvini Premier; abbr. LSP or LpSP), is a right-wing populist political party in Italy, led by Matteo Salvini. The LSP is the informal successor of Lega Nord ( ...
and 2019 federal congress of the LN, after which the latter became practically inactive, in February 2020 the LL was re-established as Lega Lombarda per Salvini Premier in order to become the regional section of the new party. The founding members of the new LL were Attilio Fontana, Paolo Grimoldi, Daniele Belotti, Stefano Borghesi, Fabrizio Cecchetti e Gian Marco Centinaio. Grimoldi continued to led the party through 2020. In February 2021 Cecchetti replaced Grimoldi as pro-tempore coordinator.


Popular support

The party has its heartland in the northern and mountain provinces of Lombardy. In the 2018 regional election it won 45.8% in Sondrio, 34.4% in
Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
, 36.7% in Bergamo, 33.4% in
Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...
, 32.6% in
Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...
and 30.9% in
Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...
(the party's cradle and original stronghold). However, the party obtained good results also in southern provinces, notably 33.4% in Lodi and 33.0% in Cremona. The electoral results of Lega Lombarda in the region since 1989 are shown in the tables below.


Electoral results


Regional Council of Lombardy


Italian Parliament

''Only the results before Lega Nord's founding are reported here.''


Leadership

*Secretary:
Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...
(1984–1993), Luigi Negri (1993–1995), Roberto Calderoli (1995–2002), Giancarlo Giorgetti (2002–2012),
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party s ...
(2012–2014), Stefano Borghesi (commissioner, 2014–2015), Paolo Grimoldi (2015–2021), Fabrizio Cecchetti (commisioner, 2021–present) *President: Augusto Arizzi (1986–1987), Silvana Bazzan (1987–1989), Franco Castellazzi (1989–1991),
Francesco Speroni Francesco Enrico Speroni (born 4 October 1946, in Busto Arsizio) is an Italian politician. Career Speroni has been flight engineer from 1970 to 1997, remaining on leave since 1989. A member of the Northern League, Speroni has been a Member of t ...
(1991–1993), Roberto Calderoli (1993–1995), Giuseppe Leoni (1995–1999), Stefano Galli (1999–2002),
Roberto Castelli Roberto Castelli (born 12 July 1946) is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the second and third governments of Silvio Berlusconi. He has been one of the main representatives of the Northern League. Early life and education ...
(2002–2012), Giancarlo Giorgetti (2012–2017), Giacomo Stucchi (2017–2020)


References


External links


Official website
(out of date) {{Authority control Political parties in Lombardy Political parties established in 1984 Federalist parties in Italy Lega Nord 1984 establishments in Italy