Liberal Constitutional Party Partito Liberal Costituzionale | |
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| Leader | The Marquess of Rudinì The Baron Sonnino |
| Founded | 1882 (1882) |
| Dissolved | 1913 (1913) |
| Preceded by | Historical Right |
| Merged into | Liberal Union |
| Headquarters | Rome |
| Ideology | Liberal conservatism[1] Conservative liberalism[2] |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Italy |
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Literature |
TheLiberal Constitutional Party (Italian:Partito Liberale Costituzionale, PLC)[3] was apolitical party in Italy, born to represent theliberal-conservative and anti-Transformist wing of theHistorical Right. Their members were usually labeled asConstitutionals orLiberal-Conservatives,[4] especially during the leadership of Rudinì and Sonnino.[2][5]
Since 1861, theRight's government pursued a policy ofbalanced budget, maintained withausterity and high taxation. Like the taxations, especially the tax on grains, were unpopular among the rural and middle classes, the Right progressively lost its support. With that, the Right was split into two factions: the "original" Northern liberals, who supported taxation, and "new arrived" Southern conservatives, who opposed the modernization and taxation.[6] On 25 March 1876, Prime MinisterMarco Minghetti was forced to resign after the so-called "Parliamentary Revolution": theLeft, together dissident members from the Right, put the government in minority on the tax on grains' question, who damaged rural economy.[7] Ironically, many Right politicians who sided now with Left were from North. Since this moment, the Right fell in opposition, andAgostino Depretis, leader of the Left, was appointed as new Prime Minister.
After the fall of Minghetti, the Right progressively disbanded. On 8 October 1882, some weeks before thegeneral elections, Depretis proclaim that anyone who will be "transform" into aprogressive will be accepted in his government, and surprisingly Minghetti agree with that, causing the merge of the rest of the Right into the Left.[8] After this event, the rest of the anti-compromise Right was called "Liberal Constitutionalist Party", led by formers Finance MinisterQuintino Sella and Interior MinisterAntonio Starabba, Marquess of Rudinì. The PLC weren't a structured and organized party, but simply a coalition of both Northern and Southernconservatives, likeSidney Sonnino,Luigi Luzzatti andPasquale Villari, who rejected opportunism and Depretis'protectionist policy.
After 10 years in opposition, the PLC gain the majority thanks to an agreement with dissident LeftGiovanni Nicotera and radicalFelice Cavallotti, and Rudinì was charged to form a new government in substitution ofFrancesco Crispi. During his short government, overthrown after 1 year, Rudinì worked to reducepublic expenditure, limit the risingimperialist sentiment and keep Italy aligned withTriple Alliance.[9] Rudinì was recalled in office after the political fall of Crispi, following the defeat inFirst Italo-Ethiopian War. During this second term, Rudinì worked to repress theSicilian Fasci, a powerful rising socialist protest in Sicily, but also the nationalist groups. After 2 years, Rudinì was ousted from office after his unpopular cease ofKassala to theUnited Kingdom. Also in PLC politicians like Luzzatti and Sonnino later formed their own governments, they were short and weakened by the newbornItalian Socialist Party and the first organized parties. The awareness of that forced the Liberal Constitutional Party to join in theLiberal Union, a political alliance between all liberal politicians, many once a time opposed between them.[10]
| Chamber of Deputies | ||||||
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preceded byHistorical Right | ||||||
| 1882 | unknown (#2) | 28.9 | 147 / 508 | New | ||
| 1886 | unknown (#2) | 27.9 | 145 / 508 |  2 | ||
| 1890 | unknown (#2) | 9.4 | 48 / 508 | 97 | ||
| 1892 | unknown (#2) | 18.3 | 93 / 508 |  45 | ||
| 1895 | 263,315 (#2) | 21.6 | 104 / 508 | 11 | ||
| 1897 | unknown (#2) | 19.4 | 99 / 508 | 5 | ||
| 1900 | 271,698 (#2) | 21.4 | 116 / 508 | 17 | ||
| 1904 | 212,584 (#3) | 13.9 | 76 / 508 | 20 | ||
| 1909 | 108,029 (#4) | 5.9 | 44 / 508 | 32 | ||
 19th-century political groups in Italy | |||||
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