Italy: Roberto Gualtieri elected new mayor of Rome

Rome: Roberto Gualtieri, the candidate for the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), is the new mayor of Rome after winning the run-off mayoral elections on Monday evening.

Gualtieri won just over 60 per cent of the vote in a race against his centre-right rival Enrico Michetti to succeed Virginia Raggi, of the populist Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S), who leaves after five years in office.

The 55-year-old Gualtieri, a former economy minister, thanked his opponents and pledged to “relaunch Rome” and be a “mayor for all Romans.”

Michetti, a lawyer and radio host, was put forward by the centrodestra alliance of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (FdL) led by Giorgia Meloni; the right-wing Lega led by Matteo Salvini; and the centre-right Forza Italia of Silvio Berlusconi.

After the first round of mayoral elections earlier this month, Michetti struggled to stay in the lead and his campaign was damaged last week when he was forced to apologise over accusations of anti-Semitism.

Raggi congratulated Gualtieri and said it was “an honour to be at the helm of this wonderful city” since 2016.

Gualtieri’s triumph coincided with a PD win in Turin, where Stefano Lo Russo (PD) beat the centre-right Paolo Damilano to succeed mayor Chiara Appendino of the M5S.

The PD victories in Rome and Turin follow centre-left wins in Milan, Naples and Bologna two weeks ago.