Politics of Veneto: Difference between revisions

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Sergio Giordani]]

|Independent ([[~~Democratic~~ ~~Party (Italy)~~|~~Democratic Party~~]])

|Independent ([[ |]])

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Flavio Massimo Pasini]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2023

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Stefano Marcon]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Andrea Nardin]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2023

!scope=”row” style=”text-align: left;” | ~~[[Province of Venice]]<br />~~[[Metropolitan City of Venice]]

!scope=”row” style=”text-align: left;” | [[Metropolitan City of Venice]]

|834,632

|{{party color cell|Coraggio Italia}}

|[[Luigi Brugnaro]]<br />(metropolitan mayor)

|[[Coraggio Italia]]

|2020

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Enrico Ferrarese]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Forza Italia (2013)}}

|[[Roberto Padrin]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|~~Forza Italia~~]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|]]

|2018

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Damiano Tommasi]]

|Independent ([[~~Democratic~~ ~~Party (Italy)~~|~~Democratic Party~~]])

|Independent ([[ |]])

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Coraggio Italia}}

|[[Luigi Brugnaro]]

|[[Coraggio Italia]]

|2020

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Sergio Giordani]]

|Independent ([[~~Democratic~~ ~~Party (Italy)~~|~~Democratic Party~~]])

|Independent ([[ |]])

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Giacomo Possamai]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|~~Democratic Party~~]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|]]

|2023

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Mario Conte (politician)|Mario Conte]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2023

!scope=”row” style=”text-align: left;” | [[Rovigo]] ([[List of mayors of Rovigo|list]])

|50,103

|{{party color cell|~~Brothers~~ ~~of Italy~~}}

|{{party color cell| }}

|[[Valeria Cittadin]]

|Independent ([[~~Brothers~~ ~~of Italy~~]])

|Independent ([[ ]])

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Mauro Armelao]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Nicola Finco]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Alberto Teso]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2023

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Marco Dori]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|~~Democratic Party~~]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|]]

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Oscar De Pellegrin]]

|Independent ([[Liga Veneta]])

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Forza Italia (2013)}}

|[[Fabio Chies]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|~~Forza Italia~~]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Stefano Marcon]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2020

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|{{party color cell|Forza Italia (2013)}}

|[[Roberto Dall’Oca]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|~~Forza Italia~~]]

|[[Forza Italia (2013)|]]

|2023

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Adalberto Bordin]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Davide Bortolato]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Franco Bevilacqua]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|~~Democratic Party~~]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Democratic Party (Italy)}}

|[[Mirella Balliana]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|~~Democratic Party~~]]

|[[Democratic Party (Italy)|]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Filippo Giacinti]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2021

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Christofer De Zotti]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2022

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|{{party color cell|Brothers of Italy}}

|[[Paolo Longhi]]

|[[Brothers of Italy]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Alessia Bevilacqua]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2024

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|{{party color cell|Lega Nord}}

|[[Attilio Gastaldello]]

|[[Liga Veneta]]

|2021

The politics of Veneto, one of the 20 regions of Italy, takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Veneto is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council. Veneto traces back to the history of the Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic and its current formed is envisioned by the Italian Constitution of 1948 and was formally instituted as a region in 1970.

The Statute of Veneto was promulgated in 1971 and largely rewritten in 2011. Article 1 defines Veneto as an “autonomous region […] in harmony with the Italian Constitution and the principles and the system of the European Union“, “constituted by the Venetian people and the lands of the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza”, while maintaining “bonds with Venetians in the world”. Article 2 sets forth the principle of the “self-government of the Venetian people” and mandates the Region to “promote the historical identity of the Venetian people and civilisation”.^[1]

Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism or Venetism, a political movement demanding more autonomy and, to some extent, independence for the region. On 22 October 2017 the so-called “autonomy referendum” took place in Veneto. Citizens were asked whether they wanted “further forms and special conditions of autonomy to be attributed to the Region of Veneto”. 57.2% of Venetians participated and 98.1% voted “yes”.

The president-elect of Veneto is Alberto Stefani of Liga Veneta–Lega, by far the largest party in the Regional Council.

Political history

Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Veneto were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades, but also the main opposition parties, namely the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party, had a good sway among Venetian voters. In the 1919 general election, the first held with proportional representation, the Catholic-inspired Italian People’s Party came first with 42.6% (gaining at least 10% more than in any other region) and the Socialists were in second place with 36.2%. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Veneto was one of the few regions, along with Lombardy and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party.^[2]

From World War II to 1994 Veneto was the heartland of Christian Democracy, which polled 60.5% in the 1953 general election and steadily above 50% until the late 1970s, and led the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In the 1990s Veneto became a stronghold of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition, which governed the region from 1995 to 2010 under Giancarlo Galan of Forza Italia. In 2010 Galan was replaced by Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who obtained a hefty and record-breaking 60.2% of the vote and whose coalition government included The People of Freedom/Forza Italia and, since 2013, the New Centre-Right;^[3] Liga Veneta was the largest party with 35.2% of the vote. Zaia and Liga Veneta were confirmed in 2015, with a reduced but more cohesive majority, due to the split of Tosi List for Veneto and the diminishment of Forza Italia: Zaia won 50.1% of the vote, while Liga Veneta a thumping 40.9% (combined score of party list and Zaia’s personal list), largely ahead of the opposition Democratic Party‘s 20.5%. Zaia and Liga Veneta were again confirmed in 2020: the first won a record-breaking 76.8% of the vote, while the party 61.5% (combined score of party list and Zaia’s personal list). In 2025 Alberto Stefani of Liga Veneta was elected president with 64.4% of the vote, succeeding Zaia, who was term-limited and led the party in all seven provinces, winning 36.3% of the vote (Zaia’s personal list did not run because of coalition agreements with the Brothers of Italy, Liga Veneta’s junior partner in the regional government and Lega’s senior partner in the Italian government) and 203,054 (write-in) personal preferences, the all-time record in Italian regional elections.

Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism (or Venetism), a political movement that appeared in the 1970s, demanding political and fiscal autonomy for the region (which is felt by Venetists to be a nation in its own right) and promoting Venetian culture, language and history. This was the background from which Liga Veneta emerged in 1980. In the 1990s and 2000s other Venetist parties (the Union of the Venetian People, the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, Lega Autonomia Veneta, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project, etc.) emerged, but they never touched the popularity of Liga Veneta, which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Some Venetists have campaigned for federal reform and/or autonomy, others (notably including the Venetian National Party, the Party of the Venetians, Veneto State, Venetian Independence, Veneto First, Plebiscito.eu, Venetian Left, Independence We Veneto and We Are Veneto) for outright independence. Other than Liga Veneta, two Venetist political parties (Resist Veneto and Liga Veneta Repubblica, including Venetian Independence) are currently represented in the Regional Council of Veneto.

Executive branch

Palazzo Balbi in Venice is the seat of the Regional Government

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is currently composed by ten members: the President and 9 regional ministers or assessors (Assessori), including a Vice President (Vice Presidente).

Current composition

The current regional government has been in office 16 October 2020, under the leadership of President Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.

Third Zaia government
Office	Name
President	Luca Zaia	Liga Veneta
Vice President	Elisa De Berti	Liga Veneta
Minister of Legal Affairs, Public Works, Infrastructures and Transports	Elisa De Berti	Liga Veneta
Minister of Planning, Budget, Patrimony and Local Government	Francesco Calzavara	Liga Veneta
Minister of Health, Social Affairs and Social Programs	Manuela Lanzarin	Liga Veneta
Minister of Economic Development, Energy and Special Status for Venice	Roberto Marcato	Liga Veneta
Minister of EU Programs, Agriculture, Tourism and International Trade	Federico Caner	Liga Veneta
Minister Minister of Education, Formation, Labour and Equal Opportunities	Elena Donazzan (until July 2024)	Brothers of Italy
	Valeria Mantovan (since September 2024)	Brothers of Italy
Minister of Environment, Climate and Civil Protection	Gianpaolo Bottacin	Liga Veneta
Minister of Culture, City Planning, Security, Hunting and Fishing	Cristiano Corazzari	Liga Veneta

Source: Veneto Region – Regional Government

Past Administrations

Legislative branch

Palazzo Ferro Fini in Venice is the seat of the Regional Council

The Regional Council of Veneto (Consiglio Regionale del Veneto) is composed of 51 members. 49 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the remaining two are the elected President and the candidate for President who comes second. The winning coalition wins a bonus of seats in order to make sure the elected President has a majority in the Council.^[4]^[5]^[6]

The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent (literally: “they will stand together or they will fall together”) clause introduced in 1999, also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.^[7]

2025–2030 composition

By coalition:

Local government

Provinces

Veneto is subdivided into seven provinces, including Venice which has functioned as a metropolitan city, with the mayor of Venice functioning also as metropolitan mayor, since 2015.

All the seven provinces, but especially Vicenza, Verona and Padua, were long Christian Democratic heartlands. In the early 1990s, when the Venetian and Italian party systems experienced huge realignments, Treviso, Vicenza and Verona became strongholds of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, while in Padua, the region’s most populated, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia was the dominant political force; only two provinces, Venice and Rovigo, have traditionally been the powerbases of the centre-left coalition and, more recently, the Democratic Party, while Belluno was long a swing province. In the 2020 regional election Liga Veneta, which fielded two lists, came largely first in each and every province.

After a reform was enacted in 2014, provinces have lost most powers to the region and the municipalities, and, contextually, provincial presidents have been elected by mayors and municipal councillors, whose votes are weighted according to the population of their municipalities. In some cases, elected presidents represent bipartisan or trans-party coalitions. For instance, in 2014 Enoch Soranzo was elected in Padua thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party, while the majority of the centre-right coalition had endorsed another candidate.^[8] Contextually, Achille Variati was endorsed both by the Democrats and Forza Italia in Vicenza^[9] and, more recently, Sergio Giordani was the joint candidate of all running parties in 2022.^[10]

In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures.^[11]

Municipalities

Twenty-six comuni, hence municipalities, of Veneto have more than 25,000 inhabitants.

Of these, seven have mayors representing Liga Veneta, five the Democratic Party, five the Brothers of Italy and two Forza Italia. Six mayors are non-party independents: two of these are supported by the Democratic Party and its centre-left allies, two jointly by Liga Veneta, the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia, and two by local non-partisan coalitions.

In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures^[11] and, in case of non-party independent mayors supported by partisan coalitions, the party to which the mayor is closest or the largest party in the coalition is indicated in brackets.

Municipality	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Verona (list)	255,608	Damiano Tommasi	Independent (Centre-left)	2022
Venice (list)	250,185	Luigi Brugnaro	CI	2020
Padua (list)	207,242	Sergio Giordani	Independent (Centre-left)	2022
Vicenza (list)	110,807	Giacomo Possamai	PD	2023
Treviso (list)	84,457	Mario Conte	LV	2023
Rovigo (list)	50,103	Valeria Cittadin	Independent (Centre-right)	2024
Chioggia	47,508	Mauro Armelao	LV	2021
Bassano del Grappa	42,436	Nicola Finco	LV	2024
San Donà di Piave	41,919	Alberto Teso	FdI	2023
Schio	38,877	Cristina Marigo	Independent	2024
Mira	37,623	Marco Dori	PD	2022
Belluno (list)	35,467	Oscar De Pellegrin	Independent (LV)	2022
Conegliano	34,419	Fabio Chies	FI	2021
Castelfranco Veneto	33,074	Stefano Marcon	LV	2020
Villafranca di Verona	32,998	Roberto Dall’Oca	FI	2023
Montebelluna	31,214	Adalberto Bordin	LV	2021
Mogliano Veneto	27,942	Davide Bortolato	FdI	2024
Spinea	27,730	Franco Bevilacqua	PD	2024
Vittorio Veneto	27,279	Mirella Balliana	PD	2024
Albignasego	27,193	Filippo Giacinti	FdI	2021
Mirano	27,068	Tiziano Baggio	Democratic Party	2022
Jesolo	26,859	Christofer De Zotti	FdI	2022
Valdagno	25,763	Maurizio Zordan	Independent	2024
Legnago	25,634	Paolo Longhi	FdI	2024
Arzignano	25,633	Alessia Bevilacqua	LV	2024
San Giovanni Lupatoto	25,290	Attilio Gastaldello	LV	2021

Political parties and elections

Latest regional election

The latest regional election took place on 23–24 November 2025.

Alberto Stefani of Liga Veneta–Lega (formerly Lega Nord) was elected President by a landslide 64.4% of the vote, with his main rival Giovanni Manildo and Riccardo Szumski obtaining 28.9% and 5.1%, respectively. Liga Veneta was confirmed the largest in the region with 36.3% of the vote, while the combined score of Venetian nationalist and/or regional parties was 45.0%. Brothers of Italy came second with 18.7% and the Democratic Party third with 16.6%. The outgoing and term-limited president, Luca Zaia, who had been elected for this third term in 2020 with a record-breaking 76.8% of the vote, headed the electoral slates of Liga Veneta in all seven provinces and obtained 203,054 (write-in) preferences, the all-time record in Italian regional elections.

23–24 November 2025 Venetian regional election results
Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats

	Alberto Stefani	1,211,356	64.39	1		League – Liga Veneta	607,220	36.28	19
						Brothers of Italy	312,839	18.69	9
						Forza Italia	105,375	6.30	3
						Liga Veneta Repubblica	30,703	1.83	1
						Union of the Centre	28,109	1.68	1
						Us Moderates	18,768	1.12	0
					Total		1,103,014	65.90	33
	Giovanni Manildo	543,278	28.88	1		Democratic Party	277,945	16.60	9
						Greens and Left Alliance	77,621	4.64	2
						Five Star Movement	36,866	2.20	1
						United for Manildo	35,669	2.13	1
						The Venetian Civics	24,926	1.49	1
						Peace Health Work	10,430	0.62	0
						Volt	5,339	0.32	0
					Total		468,796	28.01	14
	Riccardo Szumski	96,474	5.13	0		Resist Veneto	83,054	4.96	2
	Marco Rizzo	20,574	1.09	0		Sovereign Popular Democracy	12,941	0.77	0
	Fabio Bui	9,590	0.51	0		Populars for Veneto	6,071	0.36	0

Blank and invalid votes		36,305	1.89
Total candidates		1,881,272	100.0	2	Total parties		1,673,876	100.0	49
Registered voters/turnout		1,917,577	44.65
Source: Veneto Region – Results

Latest general election in Veneto

The centre-right coalition (56.3%), this time dominated by the Brothers of Italy, obtained a far larger victory than four years before over the centre-left coalition (23.0%), Action – Italia Viva (8.4%) and the Five Star Movement (5.8%). One third of deputies and senators were elected in single-seat constituencies and, as in 2018, the centre-right won all such constituencies. Among parties, the Brothers of Italy came largely first with 32.7% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party (16.3%) and Lega (14.5%). The biggest turnaround happened within the centre-right, as Lega lost more than half of the votes obtained in 2018 (–17.7pp) and the Brothers of Italy jumped from 4.2% to virtually eight times that share (+28.5pp).

Chamber of Deputies

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats
Coalition		Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Centre-right coalition		Brothers of Italy	821,583	32.7	7	1,413,108	56.3	5	12
			Lega (incl. Liga Veneta)	365,190	14.5	3			6	9
			Forza Italia	175,057	7.0	2			–	2
			Us Moderates	51,278	2.0	–			1	1
						12			12	24
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party	409,001	16.3	4	578,406	23.0	–	4
			Greens and Left Alliance	83,426	3.3	1			–	1
			More Europe	77,238	3.1	–			–	–
			Civic Commitment	8,741	0.3	–			–	–
						5			–	5
	Action – Italia Viva			210,720	8.4	2	210,720	8.4	–	2
	Five Star Movement			146,319	5.8	1	146,319	5.8	–	1
	Italexit			62,557	2.5	–	62,557	2.5	–	–
	Vita			44,430	1.8	–	44,430	1.8	–	–
	Sovereign and Popular Italy			27,853	1.1	–	27,853	1.1	–	–
	People’s Union			24,724	1.0	–	24,724	1.0	–	–
	Alternative for Italy			3,674	0.1	–	3,674	0.1	–	–
Total				2,511,881	100.0	20	2,511,881	100.0	12	32

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera

Senate

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats
Coalition		Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Centre-right coalition		Brothers of Italy	817,771	32.6	3	1,410,353	56.2	2	5
			Lega (incl. Liga Veneta)	366,266	14.6	2			2	4
			Forza Italia	174,377	7.0	1			1	2
			Us Moderates	51,939	2.1	–			–	–
						6			5	11
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party	404,957	16.1	2	582,005	23.2	–	2
			Greens and Left Alliance	87,476	3.5	1			–	1
			More Europe	81,708	3.3	–			–	–
			Civic Commitment	7,864	0.3	–			–	–
						3			–	3
	Action – Italia Viva			210,033	8.4	1	210,033	8.4	–	1
	Five Star Movement			145,545	5.8	1	145,545	5.8	–	1
	Italexit			61,777	2.5	–	61,777	2.5	–	–
	Vita			42,537	1.7	–	42,537	1.7	–	–
	Sovereign and Popular Italy			26,627	1.1	–	26,627	1.1	–	–
	People’s Union			23,303	0.9	–	23,303	0.9	–	–
	Alternative for Italy			8,604	0.3	–	8,604	0.3	–	–
Total				2,510,784	100.0	11	2,510,784	100.0	5	16

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera

Latest EP election in Veneto

Party		Votes	%
	Brothers of Italy	774,624	37.6
	Democratic Party	389,053	18.9
	Lega	271,142	13.2
	Forza Italia–Us Moderates	176,891	8.6
	Greens and Left Alliance	125,487	6.1
	Five Star Movement	99,866	4.8
	Action	84,580	4.1
	United States of Europe	65,992	3.2
	Peace Land Dignity	41,868	2.0
	Freedom	17,635	0.9
	South Tyrolean People’s Party	7,418	0.4
	Popular Alternative	6,632	0.3
Total		2,061,188	100.00

Source: Ministry of the Interior

References

^ “Consiglio Regionale Veneto – Leggi Regionali”.
^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d’Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
^ In 2009 Forza Italia was merged into The People of Freedom, which was transformed into the new Forza Italia in 2013, causing the split of the New Centre-Right.
^ “Elezioni Regione Veneto 2015”.
^ “COME SI VOTA/ Video, Elezioni Regionali Veneto 2015: fac-simile scheda, seggi speciali e i documenti necessari (oggi, domenica 31 maggio)”.
^ “Sette leggi per sette regioni. Le differenze fra i sistemi elettorali”. 25 May 2015.
^ “Home – Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia” (PDF).
^ “Enoch Soranzo eletto presidente della Provincia di Padova – Cronaca – Il Mattino di Padova”. 13 October 2014.
^ “Province: Soranzo, Pastorello, Variati, Trombini i nuovi presidenti”. 13 October 2014.
^ “Sergio Giordani è il nuovo presidente della Provincia di Padova”.
^ ^a ^b “Bilancio demografico mensile”.

Politics of Veneto: Difference between revisions

Political history