The People's Union (, UP) was a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
political alliance in Italy launched on 9 July 2022 by
Luigi de Magistris.
History
Background
During a national assembly of
Democracy and Autonomy (DemA) in January 2022,
Luigi de Magistris, party leader and former
Mayor of Naples
The mayor of Naples is an elected politician who, along with the Naples’s City Council of 40 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Naples.
Overview
According to the Constitution of Italy, Italian Constitution, the mayor of N ...
, announced his intention to create a new coalition of left-wing parties, starting from his own party. In February, four deputies founded a sub-group at the Chamber of Deputies called "ManifestA". All of them had been elected in the
2018 general election for the
Five Star Movement
The Five Star Movement ( , M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily d ...
, a big-tent populist party, and then left the party and joined either
Power to the People (PaP) or
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party (, PRC) is a Communism, communist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who r ...
(PRC).
In April, at the Chamber of Deputies, de Magistris and the four deputies of ManifestA, held a joint conference to launch a coalition of parties opposed to the
Russo-Ukrainian war
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
and
Mario Draghi
Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the prime minister of Italy from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime mi ...
's
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
for the next general election, initially scheduled to be held in 2023. He also stated that the group would not join 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 ...
led by the
Democratic Party.
In July, De Magistris organised an assembly named "Towards the People's Union", which was attended also by PaP, the PRC, ManifestA and other groups.
The alliance participated in the
2022 general election, receiving over 400,000 votes and zero seats.
In December, the 4th October Movement, a brekaway-party from the
Five Star Movement
The Five Star Movement ( , M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily d ...
, announced they will join the UP, along with their two regional councillors in Piedmont.
In the run-up of the
2024 European Parliament election
The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...
some of the components of UP joined
Peace Land Dignity, a pacifist electoral list proposed by journalist
Michele Santoro, while others chose to support some individual candidacies in the
Green and Left Alliance lists. In March 2024 de Magistris, after refusing to stand as a candidate in the upcoming election, left UP's leadership altogether.
Composition
Founding member parties
Further members
Electoral results
Italian Parliament
Regional Councils
References
{{Italian political parties
2022 establishments in Italy
Communist parties in Italy
Communist Refoundation Party
Democratic socialist parties in Europe
Left-wing political party alliances
Left-wing politics in Italy
Political parties established in 2022
Political party alliances in Italy