The party was founded in 1989 by
Giorgio Conca, a leading member of
Lega Lombarda, and
Carla Uccelli, as
Lega Emiliano-Romagnola (LER), thus comprising also
Romagna. Soon after the LER was joined by
Fabio Dosi, who was elected secretary. The party participated to the
1989 European Parliament election as part of the coalition
Lega 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 from
Lega Nord Romagna (LNR). Since then LNE and LNR have been the two regional sections of
Lega Nord in Emilia-Romagna, but continue to cooperate in regional politics. From 2002 to 2012, the party was led by
Angelo Alessandri, who also served as federal president of Lega Nord from 2005 to 2012. At the
2008 general election the party elected four deputies (including Alessandri and
Gianluca Pini, leader of Lega Nord Romagna) and two senators (including
Angela Maraventano, leader of
Extreme South and Deputy-Mayor of
Lampedusa). In May 2012, Alessandri stepped down from secretary and was replaced by
Fabio Rainieri, an ally of
Roberto 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 opponent
Riad Ghelfi had secured just 93. Some weeks later,
Manes Bernardini, a party's rising star from
Bologna, was elected president by the party's national council with 70% of the vote. In November Alessandri left the party altogether. At the same time a group of activists quit in order to join
Matteo Renzi's campaign for the
2012 centre-left primary election. In June 2014,
Pietro Pisani replaced Bernardini as national president. Bernardini would leave the party altogether in October. In the
2014 regional election, the joint list of LNE and LNR obtained its best result so far in a regionwide election (19.4%). In December 2015, during a national congress,
Gianluca Vinci (204 votes) beat
Matteo Rancan (143) and was elected secretary. The vote was setback for Lega Nord's federal secretary
Matteo Salvini, who supported Rancan: though not an
anti-salviniano, Vinci was once close to
Flavio Tosi, a Venetian leader who was ejected by Salvini from the party earlier that year, and a more independent figure. In January 2016
Giovanni Tombolato was elected national president. In the
2019 European Parliament election, the party obtained 33.8%, its best result ever. In the
2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election, LNE's
Lucia 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 of
Lega 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 as
Lega 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 e
Aldo Manfredini. Contextually, Pisani was appointed commissioner of the party. A few months later, Pisani was replaced by
Andrea Ostellari of
Liga Veneta and, in 2022 Rancan succeeded to Ostellari. In 2021, Vinci, who opposed the formation of the
Draghi government, switched parties to
Brothers of Italy. In July 2023, during a party congress, Rancan was elected secretary, by beating 63% to 47% his opponent
Carlo Piastra. ==Popular support==