Background and foundation The new FI, announced in June 2013, was launched on 18 September and the PdL was formally dissolved into the party on 16 November. The day before a group of dissidents (mainly
Christian democrats), led by Berlusconi's former protégé
Angelino Alfano, had broken away by announcing the foundation of the alternative
New Centre-Right (NCD). Another group of PdL members, led by former mayor of Rome
Gianni Alemanno, had left the party earlier to form
Italy First and would later join
Brothers of Italy (FdI). According to Berlusconi, the PdL would become a coalition of centre-right parties, including the new FI,
Lega Nord (LN), the NCD, the FdI, etc. Among the supporters of the return to FI, the so-called "hawks" and self-proclaimed "loyalists", a leading role was played by
Raffaele Fitto, who, despite the common Christian-democratic background, was a long-time rival of Alfano. Loyalists included
Antonio Martino,
Renato Brunetta,
Denis Verdini,
Mariastella Gelmini,
Mara Carfagna,
Daniela Santanchè,
Niccolò Ghedini and
Daniele Capezzone, while
Maurizio Gasparri,
Altero Matteoli and
Paolo Romani tried to mediate, but finally joined the new FI. The symbol of FI made its return in the
2013 Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol provincial elections, although in a regional fashion such as "Forza Trentino", or "Forza Alto Adige" (in list with
Lega Nord Alto Adige – Südtirol). On 27 November, the
Senate approved Berlusconi's expulsion, following the leader's conviction for tax evasion in August, when Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of imprisonment, the last three being automatically
pardoned. The day before FI had joined the opposition to
Enrico Letta's
government, which was still supported by Alfano's NCD instead. The latter voted against Berlusconi's expulsion, but since then completely parted ways from FI.
Internal struggles and Toti's rise As of the end of December 2013, Berlusconi was set to appoint two vice presidents:
Antonio Tajani (
European Commissioner and vice president of the
European People's Party) and
Giovanni Toti (former editor of
Studio Aperto and
TG4, two news programs of Berlusconi's
Mediaset). As a result of the resentment by the party's old guard, notably including Fitto, on the alleged appointment of Toti also as coordinator-at-large, Berlusconi appointed him merely "political counselor" to the party. in 2018 In the
2014 European Parliament election, FI obtained 16.8% of the vote and had 13
MEPs elected, including Toti in the
North-West,
Elisabetta Gardini in the
North-East, Tajani (who had first been elected to the
European Parliament in
1994) in the
Centre, and most notably Fitto (who garnered more than 180,000 votes in his native
Apulia alone) in the
South. As a result, Fitto, the strongest backer of Berlusconi's leadership in late 2013, became his main internal challenger by mid 2014. After months of bickering with Berlusconi over the "
Nazareno Pact" with
Matteo Renzi, leader of the
Democratic Party and
Prime Minister, in February 2015, Fitto launched his own faction, named "Rebuilders". Fitto's supporters included Capezzone,
Maurizio Bianconi,
Rocco Palese,
Saverio Romano,
Cinzia Bonfrisco,
Augusto Minzolini and most Apulian MPs. In September 2014, FI was admitted into the
European People's Party (EPP), inheriting the PdL's membership.
2015 regional elections and splits In the run-up of the
2015 regional elections, the party was riven in internal disputes and was divided mainly in three groups: Berlusconi's loyalists, Fitto's "Rebuilders" and nostalgics of the "Nazareno Pact". The latter were led by Verdini and some of them, notably including Bondi, were openly pro-Renzi. Bondi, a former Berlusconi loyalist, and his partner
Manuela Repetti left the party in March, while other disgruntled
Verdiniani propped up the government from time to time. Berlusconi chose Toti as candidate for president in
Liguria, confirmed incumbent
Stefano Caldoro as the party's standard-bearer in
Campania and renewed their support of LN's
Luca Zaia in
Veneto. However, Berlusconi and Fitto did not find an agreement on the composition of the slates in
Apulia, where the two wings of the party fielded opposing candidates for president, and similar problems arose in
Tuscany, Verdini's (and Renzi's) home region and stronghold. Two weeks before the elections, Fitto left FI and the
European People's Party group in the European Parliament to join the
European Conservatives and Reformists and start his own party, the
Conservatives and Reformists (CR). By mid July, when CR was formally established as a party, nine deputies, ten senators and another MEP had left FI to follow Fitto. In the elections, the party lost many votes, mainly to the LN, and gained more than 10% only in three regions out seven (including Apulia, where the party's candidate did worse than Fitto's one, while, in Veneto, a former stronghold, FI barely reached 6%), but, thanks to the LN's strong showing, Toti was elected President of Liguria. Another split occurred in late July, when Verdini led his group out of the party and launched the
Liberal Popular Alliance (ALA).
Toward a new centre-right coalition ,
President of the European Parliament from 2017 to 2019 In the
2016 Milan municipal election, FI found a strong candidate for mayor in
Stefano Parisi, a former director-general of
Confindustria and CEO of
Fastweb, who pulled the party to 20.2% (virtually double than the LN's score), but narrowly lost to his Democratic opponent in the run-off,
Giuseppe Sala. After the election, FI was basically divided in two camps: one led by Parisi, who did not officially joined the party and proposed a more traditional centre-right "liberal-popular" path, and the other led by Toti, who had formed a strong partnership with
Roberto Maroni and Luca Zaia, the LN's presidents of
Lombardy and Veneto, and was supportive of a full-scale alliance with LN and, possibly, of its leader
Matteo Salvini's bid to become the leader of the
centre-right coalition. In November, when it was clear that Parisi would not come to terms with Salvini, Berlusconi disowned Parisi, who responded by launching his own
Energies for Italy (EpI) party. Since then, the party has strengthened its position in parliament, thanks to an influx of MPs from other parties, including several returning after years of dissent. In August 2016, the party was re-joined by two senators, including
Renato Schifani from the NCD and another from the ALA. In November came
Mario Mauro and his
Populars for Italy (PpI). Since June 2017, the party was joined by three deputies and one senator from
Popular Alternative (AP, ex-NCD), one deputy and one senator from the
Mixed Group (ex-
Five Star Movement, M5S), one deputy from
Direction Italy (DI, ex-CR), one from
Solidary Democracy (Demo.S), one from
Act! (F!, ex-LN) and two senators from the ALA. aiming at forming a "liberal centre" with FI. In the context of a more united centre-right, Costa might form the "fourth leg" of the coalition, after the LN, FI and the FdI, by uniting other AP splinters, DI, F!,
Identity and Action (IdeA), the
Italian Liberal Party (PLI), the
Union of the Centre (UdC), and the
Pensioners' Party (PP), all variously affiliated with FI and the centre-right. Not all FI members were happy with all that; in fact, two senators and one deputy,
Daniela Santanchè, switched to the FdI. In January 2017,
Antonio Tajani was elected
President of the European Parliament, the first Italian since
Emilio Colombo (1977–1979).
2018 general and 2019 EP elections In the
2018 general election, FI obtained 14.0% of the vote and was overtaken by the LN for the first time as the largest party of the centre-right. After the election, long-time FI senator
Elisabetta Casellati, was appointed
President of the Senate, with centre-right's and M5S' support. After months of negotiations, the centre-right fragmented as the LN chose to team up with the M5S and formed a
yellow-green government, also dubbed as
Government of Change, under Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte. In July, Berlusconi appointed Tajani, the party's candidate for prime minister in the 2018 general election, vice president and
Adriano Galliani coordinator of departments, in an effort to restructure the party, which was shrinking in
opinion polls. Congress in 2019 Berlusconi ran in the
2019 European Parliament election as FI's top candidate in all Italian constituencies, except for central Italy. In the election, FI received only 8.8% of the vote, its worst result ever. Berlusconi joined the European Parliament as the oldest member of the assembly. In June, Berlusconi appointed Toti and Carfagna national coordinators, with the goal of reforming and relaunching the party. However, after a few weeks, Toti left the party in opposition to Berlusconi and launched
Cambiamo!. One of the main reasons for the split was Toti's support of an alliance with the
League and the
Brothers of Italy (FdI) at national-level, about which Berlusconi was reticent and Carfagna against.
Draghi's national unity government In January 2021, Conte's second government fell after losing support from
Matteo Renzi's
Italia Viva party. Subsequently, President Mattarella appointed
Mario Draghi to form a cabinet, which won support from FI, the League, the PD and the M5S. FI was given three ministers in the new government:
Renato Brunetta at Public Administration,
Mariastella Gelmini at Regional Affairs and
Mara Carfagna at the South. In July 2022, the M5S did not participate in a Senate's confidence vote on a government bill. Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Mattarella. After a few days, Draghi sought a confidence vote again to secure the government majority supporting his cabinet, while rejecting the proposal put forward by Lega and FI of a new government without the M5S. In that occasion, FI as well as the M5S, Lega and FdI, did not participate in the vote. Consequently, Draghi tendered his final resignation to President Mattarella, who dissolved the houses of Parliament, leading to a snap election. The party's abstention led some leading members of FI, notably including the three ministers Brunetta, Gelmini and Carfagna, to leave the party.
Meloni government and Berlusconi's death In the
2022 general election, FI, which was part of the winning centre-right coalition, won 8.1% of the vote, compared to FdI's 26.0% and the League's 8.8%. As a result,
Giorgia Meloni, leader of FdI, accepted the task of forming a new government and announced the
Meloni Cabinet, which assumed official functions after each ministers were sworn in on 22 October. FI joined the new government with five ministers, notably including Tajani as deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs. On 12 June 2023,
Berlusconi died, leaving the party's future in uncertainty. The Italian government, led by Meloni, proclaimed a
national day of mourning for the day of the funeral, also ordering that flags be flown half mast for three days. On 14 June, Berlusconi's
state funeral was officiated in the
Ambrosian Rite in the
Milan Cathedral by
Mario Delpini, the Archbishop of Milan; the funeral was attended, among others, by President Mattarella, Meloni and the entire government, as well as opposition leaders and foreign heads of state or government. A few days after Berlusconi's death, the party announced that a national council would be summoned before the end of summer to appoint an acting president and determine the road map toward the national congress that would elect the new party's leadership.
Leadership of Tajani and 2024 European election speaking at the 2025 EPP summit In July 2023, the party's national council amended the party's statute by removing the post of president, which would be forever associated with Berlusconi (including in the party's symbol), and introducing the post of secretary. Contextually, Tajani was unanimously elected secretary. In February 2024, the party held its first national congress. Tajani was unanimously re-elected secretary, along with four deputy secretaries (
Stefano Benigni,
Deborah Bergamini,
Alberto Cirio and
Roberto Occhiuto), while
Renato Schifani was appointed president of the national council. In the run-up of the
2024 European Parliament election, FI formed a joint list with
Us Moderates, signed an electoral pact with the
South Tyrolean People's Party and welcomed candidates of the
Sardinian Reformers. Additionally, FI or individual FI candidates were endorsed by
Coraggio Italia, the
Movement for Autonomy,
Future Sicily,
Christian Democracy,
New Times – United Populars, other minor or local Christian-democratic groups and the
Transnational Radical Party Moreover, a number of former members of
Lega Nord, notably including
Flavio Tosi (former leader of
Liga Veneta, now leader of FI in Veneto),
Alessandro Sorte (leader of FI in Lombardy),
Roberto Cota (former president of Piedmont),
Marco Reguzzoni (former floor leader of Lega Nord in the Chamber of Deputies),
Massimiliano Bastoni (former member of Lega Nord's right-wing and leading
Padanian nationalist),
Matteo Gazzini (outgoing MEP and leader of FI in South Tyrol) and
Stefania Zambelli (outgoing MEP), formed, within the party, a coalition named "Forza Nord". In the election, the party took 9.6% of the vote, improving its results from 2019 and electing 8 MEPs. Contextually, it retained the helm of
Piedmont with Alberto Cirio in the
regional election there. In September 2024, FI was admitted into the
International Democracy Union. In the
2025 regional elections the party improved its tallies virtually everywhere. FI did remarkably well in
Aosta Valley, where it joined the regional government as junior partner of the
Valdostan Union, and
Calabria, where Roberto Occhiuto was re-elected president and three lists formed by FI members obtained a combined score of 31.4% of the vote. ==Ideology and factions==