Lega Emilia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary | Matteo Rancan |
| Founded | 1989(as LER) 1991(as LNE) 2020(as LE) |
| Ideology | Regionalism Federalism Populism |
| National affiliation | Lega Nord (1991–2020) Lega per Salvini Premier (2020–present) |
| Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna | 7 / 50 |
| Chamber of Deputies (Emilia seats) | 10 / 35 |
| Senate (Emilia-Romagna seats) | 6 / 22 |
| Website | |
| https://legaemiliasalvinipremier.it | |
Lega Emilia (English:League Emilia), whose complete name isLega Emilia per Salvini Premier (English:League Emilia for Salvini Premier), is aregionalistpolitical party active inEmilia, part ofEmilia-Romagna region. Established in 1989, it was one of the founding "national" sections ofLega Nord (LN) in 1991 and has been the regional section ofLega per Salvini Premier (LSP) in Emilia since 2020.[1]
The party's leader isMatteo Rancan, who also leads of the joint group withLega Romagna in theLegislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna.
The party was founded in 1989 byGiorgio Conca, a leading member ofLega Lombarda, andCarla Uccelli, asLega Emiliano-Romagnola (LER), thus comprising alsoRomagna.
Soon after the LER was joined byFabio Dosi, who was elected secretary.
The party participated to the1989 European Parliament election as part of the coalitionLega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord.
In 1989–1990, the LER took part in the process of federating the Northern regionalist parties, ahead of the regional elections, taking the current name, upon the separation fromLega Nord Romagna (LNR). Since then LNE and LNR have been the two regional sections ofLega Nord in Emilia-Romagna, but continue to cooperate in regional politics.
From 2002 to 2012, the party was led byAngelo Alessandri, who also served as federal president of Lega Nord from 2005 to 2012. At the2008 general election the party elected four deputies (including Alessandri andGianluca Pini, leader of Lega Nord Romagna) and two senators (includingAngela Maraventano, leader ofExtreme South and Deputy-Mayor ofLampedusa).
In May 2012, Alessandri stepped down from secretary and was replaced byFabio Rainieri, an ally ofRoberto Maroni and one of the leaders of the party's agricultural wing. Rainieri, who had formerly been president, was elected with the support of 173 delegates at the party's congress, while his opponentRiad Ghelfi had secured just 93.[2][3][4] Some weeks later,Manes Bernardini, a party's rising star fromBologna, was elected president by the party's national council with 70% of the vote.[5] In November Alessandri left the party altogether.[6][7] At the same time a group of activists quit in order to joinMatteo Renzi's campaign for the2012 centre-left primary election.[8]
In June 2014,Pietro Pisani replaced Bernardini as national president.[9][10] Bernardini would leave the party altogether in October.[11]
In the2014 regional election, the joint list of LNE and LNR obtained its best result so far in a regionwide election (19.4%).[12]
In December 2015, during a national congress,Gianluca Vinci (204 votes) beatMatteo Rancan (143) and was elected secretary.[13][14] The vote was setback for Lega Nord's federal secretaryMatteo Salvini, who supported Rancan: though not ananti-salviniano, Vinci was once close toFlavio Tosi, a Venetian leader who was ejected by Salvini from the party earlier that year, and a more independent figure.[15][16] In January 2016Giovanni Tombolato was elected national president.
In the2019 European Parliament election, the party obtained 33.8%, its best result ever. In the2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election, LNE'sLucia Borgonzoni posed the strongest challenge so far to the dominant PD, but stopped at 43.6% and was defeated, while the League's list obtained 32.0%.
Following the formation ofLega per Salvini Premier and the 2019 federal congress of the LN, after which the latter became practically inactive, in February 2020 the LNE was re-established asLega Emilia per Salvini Premier in order to become the regional section of the new party. The founding members of the new LE were Vinci, Borgonzoni,Maurizio Campari,Corrado Pozzi eAldo Manfredini.[17][18][19] Contextually, Pisani was appointed commissioner of the party.[20][21] A few months later, Pisani was replaced byAndrea Ostellari ofLiga Veneta and, in 2022 Rancan succeeded to Ostellari.[22] In 2021, Vinci, who opposed the formation of theDraghi government, switched parties toBrothers of Italy.[23][24]
In July 2023, during a party congress, Rancan was elected secretary, by beating 63% to 47% his opponentCarlo Piastra.[25][26][27][28]
Lega Nord is usually stronger in the outer provinces, both inEmilia andRomagna. In the 2019–2020 elections (European Parliament andRegional Council, respectively) it did better in the provinces ofPiacenza (45.3% and 44.0%),Parma (38.8% and 36.5%),Ferrara (41.9% and 41.9%) andRimini (36.5% and 34.5%).
The combined electoral results of Lega Nord Emilia andLega Nord Romagna inEmilia-Romagna are shown in the tables below.
| 1990 regional | 1992 general | 1994 general | 1995 regional | 1996 general | 1999 European | 2000 regional | 2001 general | 2004 European | 2005 regional | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2009 European | 2010 regional |
| 2.9 | 9.6 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 7.2 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 7.8 | 11.1 | 13.7 |
| 2013 general | 2014 European | 2014 regional | 2018 general | 2019 European | 2020 regional | 2022 general | 2024 European |
| 2.6 | 5.0 | 19.4 | 19.2 | 33.8 | 32.0 | 7.5 | 6.5 |