Next Italian general election

2027 Italian general election
← 2022
No later than 22 December 2027
All 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (C)
201 seats needed for a majority
All 200 elective seats in the Senate of the Republic (S)
101 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
 
Leader Giorgia Meloni Elly Schlein Matteo Salvini
Party Brothers of Italy Democratic Party League
Leader since 8 March 2014 12 March 2023 15 December 2013
Leader's seat L'Aquila (C) Veneto 2 (C) Apulia (S)
Current seats 116 (C) · 63 (S) 71 (C) · 36 (S) 57 (C) · 29 (S)
 
Leader Giuseppe Conte Antonio Tajani Matteo Renzi
Party Five Star Movement Forza Italia Italia Viva
Leader since 6 August 2021 15 July 2023 23 December 2022
Leader's seat Lombardy 1 (C) Velletri (C) Campania (S)
Current seats 48 (C) · 26 (S) 54 (C) · 20 (S) 7 (C) · 8 (S)
 
Leader Angelo Bonelli &
Nicola Fratoianni		 Carlo Calenda Roberto Vannacci
Party Greens and Left Action National Future
Leader since 2 July 2022 20 February 2022 6 February 2026
Leader's seat Imola (C)
Tuscany 3 (C)		 Sicily (S) Did not stand
Current seats 10 (C) · 3 (S) 10 (C) · 2 (S) 9 (C) · 0 (S)
Incumbent Prime Minister

Giorgia Meloni
Brothers of Italy


General elections will occur in Italy no later than 22 December 2027.

Background

In the 2022 Italian general election, the centre-right coalition led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) won an absolute majority of seats in the Italian Parliament. On 20 October, a few days following the elections of the presidents of the two houses of Parliament (Ignazio La Russa of FdI on 13 October for the Senate of the Republic and Lorenzo Fontana of the Lega on 14 October for the Chamber of Deputies), consultations on the formation of a new cabinet officially began.

The Cabinet was announced on 21 October and was officially sworn in on the next day. It was one of the fastest government formations in the history of the Italian Republic. The first Italian cabinet headed by a female prime minister, it was variously described as a shift to the political right, and as the first far-right-led Italian government since World War II.

Electoral system

The Italian electoral law of 2017 (Rosatellum) until 2026 assigned seats in both houses of the Italian Parliament using mixed-member majoritarian representation. On 8 October 2026, the Italian Parliament approved a new electoral law (Stabilicum), allocating 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 200 seats in the Senate through a majority jackpot system, in which the political coalition or party that achieved at least 42% of popular vote would automatically achieve a majority bonus majority of 70 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 seats in the Senate, to ensure a majority.

To avoid excessively large majority, there is a cap on the bonus majority so that the winner does not get more than 220 seats in the Chamber and 113 in the Senate. If no coalitions or parties reach the threshold of 42%, the seats are distributed in a purely proportional manner. There is a threshold to enter parliament, set at 10% for coalitions and 3% for parties. Within a coalition, the best-performing party that falls below the 3% threshold would also receive seats. The total votes of a coalition for the purpose of triggering the majority bonus is the sum of the votes of all of its members, even those that do not reach the 3% threshold. To qualify for the majority bonus, each party or coalition must indicate its candidate for Prime Minister and its common program at the time of registration. As the President of Italy appoints the Prime Minister, this designation is not legally binding, and the name of candidate for Prime Minister will not appear on the ballot.

In this system, voters can express preferences in a hybrid system: the list leaders are fixed in place (closed list), but voters can express up to three preferences out of six remaining names in the ballot (open list), with gender alternation; if preferences are expressed without alternating between candidates' gender, the vote is void. Unlike the previous Rosatellum law, where, of the total number of list leaders, no gender can be represented by more than 60%, there is no such requirement in the current system. However, of the total number of candidates submitted by a coalition, no gender can be represented by more than 60% Opposition parties are expected to challenge the law in court, arguing, among other things, that the majority bonus distorts voter representation.

Signatures required

Following the adoption of the new electoral law, parties are required to have their own parliamentary group in either the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate at the time the elections are called in order to be included on the ballot. Otherwise, they must collect between 6,000 and 7,000 signatures in each multi-member constituency (up from the 1,500 to 2,000 signatures required under the previous electoral law) in at least half of the constituencies for either the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate. There are 49 constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies and 26 for the Senate of the Republic.

However, if a party has its own subgroup within the Mixed Group at the time the elections are called, the required number of signatures is reduced to between 1,500 and 2,000 per constituency. To form a subgroup within the Mixed Group, the Chamber of Deputies requires at least three deputies, and the party must have contested the previous general election, while the Senate requires at least one senator, and the party must have elected at least one regional councillor.

Parties representing linguistic minorities are exempt from collecting signatures in their respective constituencies if they elected at least one deputy or senator at the previous general election. If a snap election is called more than 120 days before the end of the legislature, the required number of signatures is halved.

The new electoral law includes several special provisions for the current legislature: only parties that had a parliamentary group as of 31 December 2025 are exempt from collecting signatures, while, under Article 1 subsection 9, only parties that had a subgroup within the Mixed Group as of 24 October 2026 (the date on which the law entered into force) are partially exempt from collecting signatures.

Party Parliamentary Status Exemption Status
Brothers of Italy (FdI) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Democratic Party (PD) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
League Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Five Star Movement (M5S) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Forza Italia (FI) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Italia Viva (IV) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Action Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
Us Moderates (NM) Parliamentary Group Total Exemption
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) Linguistic minorities Total Exemption
(In Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol)
Valdostan Union (UV) Linguistic minorities Total Exemption
(In Aosta Valley)
National Future (FN) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
South calls North (ScN) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
More Europe (+E) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
Civic Project Italy (PCI) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption
Italy Tomorrow (ID) Subgroup in the Mixed group Partial Exemption

Members of the Parliament standing down

Members of Parliament not standing for re-election
Portrait MP Seat First elected Party Date announced Ref.
Pier Ferdinando Casini Bologna
(Senate of the Republic)		 26 June 1983 Centrists for Europe 11 October 2026

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Local regression trend line of poll results from 25 September 2022 to the election day, with each line corresponding to the next general election party lists

Party vote aggregations

Polling Parties Coalitions
Polling aggregator Ref. Date updated FdI PD M5S Lega FI A IV AVS +E NM FN Others Lead CSX CDX
PolitPro 25 Oct 2026 27.7 20.4 12.5 5.7 7.2 3.0 2.4 6.2 1.4 1.1 7.1
5.3
1.4 – South calls North
3.9 – Others
 7.3 42.9 43.1
Doppia Cifra 23 Oct 2026 27.0 20.9 12.5 5.6 7.5 3.0 2.4 6.4 1.5 1.1 7.0
5.1
1.2 – Liberal Democratic Party
1.2 – South calls North
0.8 – Ora!
1.9 – Others
 6.1 43.8 42.4
YouTrend 22 Oct 2026 27.9 20.3 12.1 5.6 7.3 3.3 2.4 6.5 1.4 1.1 6.8 5.3 7.6 42.7 41.9
Cassandra 21 Oct 2026 27.2 20.2 12.5 5.5 7.1 3.0 2.1 5.9 2.0 1.0 6.8
6.7
1.5 – Liberal Democratic Party
1.0 – Ora!
1.0 – South calls North
3.2 – Others
 7.0 42.7 41.8
BiDiMedia 20 Oct 2026 27.2 20.2 12.6 5.6 7.3 3.3 2.4 6.4 1.5 1.2 7.4
4.9
0.9 – South calls North
4.0 – Others
 7.0 43.1 42.2
Politico Europe 12 Oct 2026 28.0 21.0 13.0 5.0 7.0 3.0 2.0 6.0 2.0 – 8.0
5.0
1.0 – South calls North
4.0 – Others
 7.0 44.0 41.0
Europe Elects 9 Oct 2026 28.0 20.0 13.0 5.0 7.0 3.0 2.0 6.0 – – 8.0
8.0
1.0 – Civic Project Italy
7.0 – Others
 8.0 42.0 40.0
Atlante elettorale 16 Sep 2026 26.3 21.1 12.5 5.7 7.5 3.8 4.3 6.6 – 1.2 7.6 3.4 5.2 44.5 40.7
2022 election 25 Sep 2022 26.0 19.1 15.4 8.8 8.1 7.8 3.6 2.8 0.9 – 4.9 6.9 26.1 43.8

Government approval ratings

Local regression trend line of poll results on government approval, with the green line corresponding to approval and the red line corresponding to disapproval.

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Winfield, Nicole (26 September 2022). "How a party of neo-fascist roots won big in Italy". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Senato, Ignazio La Russa eletto presidente". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 13 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Il discorso di Lorenzo Fontana nuovo presidente della Camera che elogia il Papa e ringrazia Bossi: 'L'Italia non deve omologarsi'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 14 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Quirinale, il calendario delle consultazioni per la formazione del nuovo governo. Centrodestra (unito) atteso al Colle venerdì". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Tempi di formazione dei governi, da Berlusconi a Conte: i record". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 21 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. ↑ Harlan, Chico; Pitrelli, Stefano (21 October 2022). "Meloni sworn in as Italy's first female prime minister". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Amante, Angelo; Weir, Keith (21 October 2022). "Meloni takes charge as PM as Italy swings to the right". Reuters. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Presidential palace says Giorgia Meloni forms government, giving Italy first far-right-led coalition since World War II". ABC News. Associated Press. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Far-right Meloni set to become Italy's first woman PM". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. ↑ Davies, Maia (8 October 2026). "Italy approves elections overhaul as opposition accuse Meloni of 'scam' law". BBC News. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Key points in Italy's new electoral law". Reuters. 8 October 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Legge elettorale, cos'è lo Stabilicum (o Melonellum) come voteremo e che cosa cambia". RaiNews (in Italian). 8 October 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  13. 1 2 Gorrasi, Violetto. "Come funziona la nuova legge elettorale: le preferenze (ma con capilista bloccati), il premio di governabilità e il nome del candidato premier". Today (in Italian). Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Bolzani, Alessandro (8 October 2026). "Nuova legge elettorale, cosa cambia rispetto al Rosatellum: la guida allo Stabilicum". alanews | News, Ultime notizie, Video e Foto in tempo reale (in Italian). Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  15. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela (8 October 2026). "Italian opposition cries foul as Meloni's electoral reform passed in secret ballot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Gagliardi, Andrea (9 October 2026). "Electoral law: Vannacci's challenge under the new rules". Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  17. ↑ "Art. 14 Conoscere la Camera". conoscere.camera.it. Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  18. ↑ "Il Regolamento del Senato - Articolo 14 (1) Senato della Repubblica". www.senato.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  19. ↑ "Abbiamo una nuova legge elettorale". Pagella Politica (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  20. 1 2 Maestri, Pubblicato da Gabriele. "Meno firme per i simboli nuovi (e non solo) con l'aiuto di quelli già visti: c'è tempo fino al 24 ottobre per creare componenti del gruppo misto" (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  21. ↑ Roncone, Fabrizio (11 October 2026). "Casini: «Mi fermo, dopo 44 anni non mi ricandido. Il ricordo più bello? Quel giorno con Wojtyla»". Corriere della sera (in Italian). Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  22. ↑ "Italy: Polls and trends for the Italian election 2027". PolitPro. 25 October 2026. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  23. ↑ Ruffino, Lorenzo (23 October 2026). "La media dei sondaggi". DoppiaCifra (in Italian). Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  24. ↑ Bianco, Ruben (22 October 2026). "La Supermedia". Youtrend (in Italian). Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  25. ↑ "Media dei sondaggi". Cassandra (in Italian). 26 March 2026. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  26. ↑ De Donatis, Mauro (21 October 2026). "Media di tutti i Sondaggi (20 Ottobre): Meloni continua a riprendersi i voti da Vannacci, in ribasso PD e 5 Stelle". Sondaggi BiDiMedia (in Italian). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  27. ↑ "Poll of polls Italy". Politico Europe. 12 October 2026. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  28. ↑ "Polling average of Italy". Europe Elects. 9 October 2026. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  29. ↑ Sciara, Aldo (8 September 2026). "Proiezioni e analisi sulle elezioni italiane". Atlante elettorale (in Italian). Archived from the original on 30 September 2026. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
  30. ↑ "Elezioni Camera 25/09/2022". Eligendo (in Italian). Retrieved 20 December 2024.