Thecentre-left coalition (Italian:coalizione di centro-sinistra) is apolitical alliance ofpolitical parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, whenThe Olive Tree was formed under the leadership ofRomano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the country for more than thirteen years between 1996 and 2021; to do so, it had mostly to rely on abig tent that went from the more radical left-wing, which had more weight between 1996 and 2008, to the political centre, which had more weight during the 2010s, and its main parties were also part ofgrand coalitions andnational unity governments.

The coalition mostly competed with thecentre-right coalition founded bySilvio Berlusconi. In the1996 Italian general election, The Olive Tree consisted of the majority of both the left-wingAlliance of Progressives and the centristPact for Italy, the two losing coalitions in the1994 Italian general election, the first under a system based primarily onfirst-past-the-post voting. In 2005,The Union was founded as a wider coalition to contest the2006 Italian general election, which later collapsed due toClemente Mastella during the2008 Italian political crisis, with the fall of thesecond Prodi government.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the centre-left coalition has been built around theDemocratic Party (PD), which was established in 2007 from a merger ofDemocrats of the Left andDemocracy is Freedom, the main parties affiliated to both The Olive Tree and The Union. The centre-left coalition was part of Italian governments from November 2011 to June 2018, when a coalition government between theFive Star Movement (M5S) and theLeague was formed.

In September 2019, the centre-left returned to power in coalition with the M5S, with centre-left parties participating in the national unity government ofMario Draghi, who was the country's prime minister from February 2021 until the2022 Italian government crisis in July that led to the2022 Italian general election. Under an electoral law (Rosatellum) that favoured unity and coalitions, a divided centre-left, M5S, and PD's centrist split parties suffered a loss to the centre-right coalition, which won a majority of seats since the2008 Italian general election. Since 2023, PD, M5S,Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) and minor centre-left parties often run within the same coalition at local and regional level in the Progressive Camp.^[1][2]

Following the1994 Italian general election, which was won by thecentre-right coalition ofSilvio Berlusconi, the left-wingAlliance of Progressives and the centristPact for Italy started a parliamentary cooperation, which brought in March 1995 to the foundation ofThe Olive Tree.^[3] The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions wasRomano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former member ofChristian Democracy (DC), who invented the name and the symbol of The Olive Tree withArturo Parisi in 1995.^[4]

In 1995,Lega Nord exited thePole of Freedoms and supportedLamberto Dini'stechnocratic government, together with the Pact for Italy and the Alliance of Progressives. On 21 April 1996, The Olive Tree won1996 Italian general election with theCommunist Refoundation Party (PRC) as an external ally, makingRomano Prodi thePrime Minister of Italy.^[5] The Olive Tree's largest partner was theDemocratic Party of the Left (PDS), which contained the bulk of the formerItalian Communist Party. The PDS supplied 16 ministers and 10 junior ministers; it was the first time that former PCI members had taken part in government since 1947. One of their leaders,Walter Veltroni, who ran in ticket with Prodi in a long electoral campaign, wasDeputy Prime Minister of Italy. On 9 October 1998, thefirst Prodi government fell when PRC left the alliance. Since 21 October 1998, The Olive Tree was the core of the governments led byMassimo D'Alema and byGiuliano Amato. When D'Alema became the new prime minister, it was the first time ever in both Italy and Western Europe that an heir of theCommunist party tradition came to lead a government. On 13 May 2001, led byFrancesco Rutelli, who ran in ticket withPiero Fassino, the centre-left coalition lost the general elections against Berlusconi and theHouse of Freedoms.

The Union was the direct heir of The Olive Tree. While The Union was an heterogenous alliance that also included Communist parties, they were not part of The Olive Tree. Prodi won the2006 Italian general election by a very narrow margin due to the new electoral law enacted byRoberto Calderoli; Berlusconi refused to acknowledge defeat. Prodi's coalition proved to be extremely frail, as the two-vote margin in theSenate of the Republic allowed almost any party in the coalition to veto legislation and political views inside the coalition spanned fromcommunists toChristian democrats.

On 7 May 2006, the centre-left coalition officially endorsedGiorgio Napolitano as its candidate in the2006 Italian presidential election that began on 8 May. TheHoly See endorsed him as thepresident of Italy through its official newspaper,L'Osservatore Romano, just after The Union named him as its candidate, as didMarco Follini, former secretary of theUnion of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDCC), a member party of the House of Freedoms. On 10 May 2006, Napolitano was elected in the fourth round of voting, the first of those requiring only an absolute majority, unlike the first three which required two-thirds of the votes, with 543 votes (out of a possible 1009). At the age of 80, he became the first former PCI member to become president of Italy

On 21 February 2007, less than a year after he had won the elections, Prodi tendered his resignation to Napolitano after the government was defeated in the Senate by two ballots in a vote on foreign policy. On 24 February, Napolitano invited Prodi to return to office and face avote of confidence. Major causes of friction inside the coalition were the 2006 Pardon Act (it was criticised by the centre-right coalition and by theItaly of Values party), a draft bill to establishcivil unions (vetoed by Christian democrats), Italy's continuedinvolvement in Afghanistan (strongly opposed by left-wing parties), and the much publicised house-arrest ofClemente Mastella's wife (then a prominent politician at the regional level) over a corruption scandal. Mastella's partyUnion of Democrats for Europe held enough seats in the Senate that his eventual decision to withdraw its support for the government meant the end of the legislature on 6 February 2008. Mastella, who also resigned from his office asMinister of Justice, cited the proposed reform of the electoral system that would have made it difficult for small parties like his own to gain seats in theItalian Parliament, as well as the lack of personal support from his coalition partners' as one of the reasons behind his decision.^[6]

The Democratic Party (PD) was founded on 14 October 2007 as a merger of variouscentre-left parties that had been part of The Union in the 2006 general election. At foundation, the majority of the PD was formed by theDemocrats of the Left (DS), heirs of the PCI, and the largely Catholic-inspiredDemocracy is Freedom – The Daisy.^[7] Within the party, an important role is played byChristian leftists, who are direct heirs of the former DC's left wing.^[8][9][10] After theresignation of Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister in November 2011, the PD gave external support toMario Monti's technocratic government.^[11][12]

Following the2013 Italian general election and the2014 European Parliament election in Italy, the PD was the largest party in theChamber of Deputies, the Senate, and theEuropean Parliament, respectively. Since April 2013, due to the inconclusive results of the 2013 general election held in February despite being the largest party andPier Luigi Bersani'sItalia. Bene Comune centre-left coalition, the PD memberEnrico Letta was prime minister at the head of a government sustained by agrand coalition includingThe People of Freedom, which was later replaced by theNew Centre-Right as thenew Forza Italia (FI) went to the opposition,Civic Choice, and the Union of the Centre (UdC), the renamed UDCC that was later replaced by thePopulars for Italy. Following his election as party leader in February 2014,Matteo Renzi called for "a new phase" and consequently the party's national board voted to ask Letta to resign.^[13][14] Subsequently, Renzi was sworn in as prime minister at the head of the same coalition.^[15]

By 2015, other than the national government, the PD led fifteen regional governments out of twenty and functioned as coalition partner inTrentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The2016 Italian constitutional referendum was supported by the majority of the centre-left coalition. Inside the centre-left coalition, UdC, theFederation of the Greens,Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology,Progressive Valdostan Union,Slovene Union, andChristian Popular Union campaigned for the "No" vote. The referendum was lost with 41% of "Yes" against 59% of "No" votes. After the referendum, Renzi tendered his resignation as prime minister andPaolo Gentiloni, also a member of the PD, became his successor. In the2018 Italian general election, the centre-left coalition led by with Renzi obtained its worst result ever at 22.9% of the vote, well behind the centre-right coalition and theFive Star Movement (M5S). Following the defeat, Renzi resigned from secretary of the PD, and his deputyMaurizio Martina functioning afterwards as acting secretary.^[16]

In September 2019, the PD formed acoalition government with the M5S and the PD's left-wing splitFree and Equal (LeU), which was supported by the members of the centre-left coalition in 2018.^[17][18] Following the2021 Italian government crisis, which was caused by Renzi'sItalia Viva (IV) centrist party,Giuseppe Conte was replaced byMario Draghi. In February 2021, anational unity government including the PD, MS5, IV,Article One, and Berlusconi's FI andMatteo Salvini's rebranded and renamedLeague. The Draghi government collapsed during the2022 Italian government crisis, leading to Draghi's resignation as prime minister that July and a snap general election being called for September. For the2022 Italian general election, the centre-left coalition centered around the PD'sDemocratic and Progressive Italy electoral list, which was allied with theCivic Commitment,Greens and Left Alliance,^[19] andMore Europe lists. Due to theItalian electoral law of 2015 that was supported by Renzi and that favoured unity and coalition, the centre-left coalition, which was not able to form alliances with the M5S (accused of causing the fall of Draghi's government) and the PD's centrist party splits that were opposed to the left-wing parties of the coalition,^[20] was defeated by the centre-right coalition ledBrothers of Italy (the sole centre-right coalition to oppose the Draghi's government) ofGiorgia Meloni, who returned to power for the first time since 2011.

In the1996 Italian general election and during thefirst Prodi government, the coalition was composed of the following parties:

The coalition had the following regional partners:

The Olive Tree presented candidates ofThe Network and theLadin Autonomist Union in somefirst-past-the-post constituencies. The coalition also made an agreement of desistance with theCommunist Refoundation Party in some first-past-the-post constituencies,^[21] which ran under the banner of theProgressives.

In 1998, theCommunist Refoundation Party brought down the first Prodi government.^[22] with a splinter faction forming theParty of Italian Communists.^[23] In 1998–2001, during the two governments led byMassimo D'Alema (1998–2000) and the one led byGiuliano Amato (2000–2001), the coalition was composed of eight parties:

In the2001 Italian general election, the coalition was led byFrancesco Rutelli, and was composed of nine parties:

The coalition had the following regional partners:

The Olive Tree made an agreement of desistance with theCommunist Refoundation Party in thefirst-past-the-post constituencies.

In the2004 European Parliament election in Italy, theUnited in the Olive Tree joint list, was composed of four parties:

The list was connected with the following regional partners:

In the2006 Italian general election, the coalition was composed of thirteen parties:

The coalition had the following regional partners:

The coalition was supported by theAutonomists for Europe, Radicals of the Left, and the New Action Party.

In the2008 Italian general election, the coalition was led byWalter Veltroni,^[24] and was composed of three parties:

The coalition also had the following regional partners:

In the2013 Italian general election, the coalition ran asItaly. Common Good under the leadership ofPier Luigi Bersani,^[26] and was composed of the following parties:

The coalition had the following regional partners:

In the2018 Italian general election, the coalition was led byMatteo Renzi, and was composed of four electoral lists:

The coalition had the following regional partners:

The centre-left coalition was also supported by theLadin Autonomist Union^[28] and theSlovene Union.^[29]

In the2022 Italian general election, the alliance was formed by four parties:

The coalition contested the election in some regions under the following banners:

There were regional agreements between the centre-left coalition andAction – Italia Viva in Trentino for the Senate election and in Aosta Valley for both Chamber and Senate elections. The Italian Left ran instead with theFive Star Movement and Democratic Area in Aosta Valley.

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Election	Leader	Chamber of Deputies					Senate of the Republic
		Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position
1996	Romano Prodi	16,355,985	43.6	323 / 630	New	1st	14,548,006	44.6	167 / 315	New	1st
2001	Francesco Rutelli	16,209,944	43.5	247 / 630	75	2nd	13,282,495	39.2	128 / 315	41	2nd
2006	Romano Prodi	19,036,986	49.8	348 / 630	101	1st	17,118,364	49.2	158 / 315	30	2nd
2008	Walter Veltroni	13,689,303	37.5	239 / 630	109	2nd	12,457,182	38.7	130 / 315	28	2nd
2013	Pier Luigi Bersani	10,047,603	29.6	345 / 630	106	1st	9,686,683	31.6	127 / 315	3	1st
2018	Matteo Renzi	7,506,723	22.9	122 / 630	223	3rd	6,947,199	23.0	58 / 315	69	3rd
2022	Enrico Letta	7,337,975	26.1	85 / 400	37	2nd	7,161,688	25.4	44 / 200	14	2nd

Region	Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
Aosta Valley[a]	2025	12,029	19.9	6 / 35	1
Piedmont	2024	582,399 (2nd)	35.2	17 / 51	3
Lombardy[b]	2023	945,148 (2nd)	32.8	24 / 80	7
South Tyrol[c]	2023	66,353	23.6	8 / 35	2
Trentino	2023	78,545 (2nd)	33.8	13 / 35	5
Veneto	2020	337,454 (2nd)	16.4	9 / 51	3
Friuli-Venezia Giulia[b]	2023	117,469 (2nd)	29.7	18 / 49
Emilia-Romagna[b]	2024	857,144 (1st)	57.4	34 / 50	5
Liguria[b]	2024	269,186 (2nd)	47.9	13 / 31	1
Tuscany	2025	694,099 (1st)	54.6	25 / 41
Marche	2025	247,053 (2nd)	43.5	11 / 31
Umbria[b]	2024	161,294 (1st)	50.2	13 / 21	5
Lazio	2023	519,066 (2nd)	33.6	15 / 50	9
Abruzzo[b]	2024	262,565 (2nd)	45.3	12 / 31
Molise[b]	2023	48,936 (2nd)	34.6	7 / 21	1
Campania	2020	1,616,540 (1st)	68.6	33 / 51	2
Apulia	2020	759,732 (1st)	45.3	28 / 51	2
Basilicata[b]	2024	108,135 (2nd)	41.4	8 / 21
Calabria[b]	2025	312,214 (2nd)	41.1	10 / 31	2
Sicily	2022	341,252 (3rd)	16.1	11 / 70	2
Sardinia[b]	2024	293,288 (2nd)[d]	42.5	36 / 60	12

• Political party alliances in Italy

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