How Italy’s Five Star Movement moved from political fringes to establishment
- The Five Star Movement has evolved from a protest party into one capable of forming key alliances on both sides of the political spectrum
- Besides forming political alliances, the party changed course on several policies, notably on remaining in the euro zone
Born 10 years ago from a grass roots rebellion against traditional politics, Italy’s Five Star Movement has evolved into a party capable of forging alliances with the far-right and now the left.
Founded by comedian Beppe Grillo and digital marketing specialist Gianroberto Casaleggio, the anti-establishment M5S initially refused any alliances.
But March 2018 elections saw the M5S become the biggest party in Italian politics with 32 per cent of the vote, and they eventually formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s populist, anti-migrant League.
A little over a year later, the M5S is now in talks with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) to form a new coalition after Salvini tried to bring down the government in a failed power grab.
The M5S has lost ground to the League over the last 14 months, dropping to 17 per cent in May’s European parliamentary elections, while the League went from 17 per cent last year to 34 per cent this year.