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43-475: The LL is currently led by a pro-tempore coordinator, Federico Cecchetti . Leading members of the party have included Umberto Bossi , Roberto Maroni , Roberto Calderoli , Giancarlo Giorgetti , Francesco Speroni , Roberto Castelli , Matteo Salvini , who has led the federal party since 2013, Gian Marco Centinaio and Attilio Fontana , who has served as president of Lombardy since 2018. The origins of Lombard identity and Lombard nationalism can be traced in

86-538: A Tridentine Mass and said there were affinities between the Lega Nord and the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre . Father Abrahamowicz is seen as unofficial chaplain of the party. On 8 May 2008, he became Minister for Institutional Reforms again, in Silvio Berlusconi's fourth cabinet . He held the position until 16 November 2011. On 5 April 2012, when news broke of an alleged appropriation of party funds for

129-416: A commissioner, Stefano Borghesi , to fill the post. Borghesi was later replaced by Grimoldi. In November 2015 Grimoldi was elected national secretary of the party. In May 2017, after Salvini's re-election as LN federal secretary, five LL members (Bordonali, Fabrizio Cecchetti , Giulio De Capitani , Simona Pergreffi and Jacopo Vignati ) were elected to the federal council with Salvini, a sixth (Giorgetti)

172-629: A former member of the Italian Communist Party . The party was soon joined by Gipo Farassino , another former Communist and well-known folk-singer. In the 1985 regional election UP won 1.1% of the vote under the banner of Liga Veneta . In the 1987 general election Gremmo formed an alliance with Umberto Bossi 's Lega Lombarda , but was damaged by the split led by Farassino, Mario Borghezio and Renzo Rabellino , who formed Autonomist Piedmont (PA). In 1989 Bossi welcomed both UP and PA into his Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord coalition for

215-635: A seat as a member of the European Parliament , where he registered an attendance to 9 per cent of the plenary sessions in his last mandate. Bossi later slowly returned to active politics. On 11 January 2005, Bossi appeared on the political scene at the last house of the Lombard federalist politician Carlo Cattaneo at Lugano after 306 days from the accident. During that day, he met the Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti (Forza Italia) with whom he constituted

258-474: A so-called "triumvirate" composed by Roberto Maroni , Roberto Calderoli and Manuela Dal Lago . On 7 December 2013 Matteo Salvini took over as official leader of the party. With a decision of August 2019, the Supreme Court of Cassation decreed, as reported by Reuters, that "the case against former League leader Umberto Bossi and its former party treasurer had expired due to the statute of limitations, but

301-441: The 2001 general election , three LL members joined Berlusconi's government as ministers: Bossi (who would later have health problems and be replaced by Calderoli), Maroni and Roberto Castelli . In 2002 Calderoli was replaced by Giancarlo Giorgetti , while Castelli became president. In the 2010 regional election the party gained 26.2%, its best result so far. In 2012 Giorgetti decided to step down from national secretary and

344-805: The 2018 regional election it won 45.8% in Sondrio , 34.4% in Brescia , 36.7% in Bergamo , 33.4% in Lecco , 32.6% in Como and 30.9% in Varese (the party's cradle and original stronghold). However, the party obtained good results also in southern provinces, notably 33.4% in Lodi and 33.0% in Cremona . The electoral results of Lega Lombarda in the region since 1989 are shown in the tables below. Only

387-475: The 2023 regional election , Fontana was re-elected with 54.6% of the vote, but the party won 22.7% (combined result of party list and Fontana's personal list), coming second to Brothers of Italy (FdI), which thus obtained a large share of the regional government and one of its members at the head of the Regional Council . The party has its heartland in the northern and mountain provinces of Lombardy . In

430-703: The Duchy of Milan , the Five Days of Milan and the federalist thought of Carlo Cattaneo , even though the Lombard sentiment was often intertwined with Italian nationalism , especially during the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia under the Austrian Empire . Anti-Rome and anti-Italian sentiments grew after World War II . In 1947 Giulio Bergmann , who would later serve as senator for the Italian Republican Party , launched

473-464: The European Parliament election . Gremmo refused to join forces again with Farassino and Borghezio, who were separatists while he was a federalist, and resigned from editor of Lombardia Autonomista , the official publication of Lega Lombarda. Subsequently, he refused to participate to the founding process of Lega Nord and UP started its decline. In the 1990 regional election , UP won 2.3% of

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516-554: The List for Trieste and finally Liga Veneta (LV), Bossi learned about federalism and autonomism. Consequently, he started a series of publications and organisations, notably the Lombard North-Western Union for Autonomy, along with his brother Franco and Roberto Maroni , an activist of Proletarian Democracy . In the 1983 general election Bossi, along with future regional councillor Roberto Bernardelli , stood as candidate for

559-467: The first Berlusconi cabinet collapsing before Christmas 1994. Bossi agreed to return to an alliance with Berlusconi, which ultimately led to the (this time, easily predicted) 2001 electoral victory. He then served in Silvio Berlusconi's second cabinet as Reforms Minister. However, after suffering a stroke on 11 March 2004, which seriously impaired his speech, he quit on 19 July 2004 to take up

602-654: The regional elections . The LL was the most voted among the new regional parties, with 18.9% of the vote in the 1990 Lombard regional election (the LV was riven in internal conflicts at the time and especially suffered the competition of Green lists and the Union of the Venetian People ). In February 1991 the LL finally was merged with the five parties of the LL–AN alliance and newly-formed parties in

645-505: The 2019 federal congress of the LN, after which the latter became practically inactive, in February 2020 the LL was re-established as Lega Lombarda per Salvini Premier in order to become the regional section of the new party. The founding members of the new LL were Attilio Fontana, Paolo Grimoldi, Daniele Belotti , Stefano Borghesi, Fabrizio Cecchetti e Gian Marco Centinaio . Grimoldi continued to led

688-536: The CN narrowly won in Bergamo and Brescia , while the pro-Salvini wing retained Varese for a handful of votes. In November 2023, Castelli started his own People's Party of the North . In the meantime, the party joined Giorgia Meloni 's government with five LL ministers, including Salvini as deputy prime minister and minister of Infrastructure and Transport and Giorgetti as minister of Economy and Finance. A few months later, in

731-644: The LN obtained 8.7% of the vote countrywide, of which 23.0% in Lombardy, and dozens of LL members were elected to the Chamber and Senate. In 1993 Luigi Negri took over as secretary, replacing Bossi, who had to choose between national and federal office. After the 1994 general election , in which the LN ran within Silvio Berlusconi 's Pole of Freedoms coalition, three LL members joined Berlusconi's government as ministers: Maroni (the party's recognised number two), Vito Gnutti and Speroni. In December, Bossi chose to leave

774-633: The List of Trieste, with little success, especially if compared with the LV, which obtained one elect to the Chamber of Deputies and one to the Senate , and would have elects also in the 1985 regional election . On 12 April 1984 the Lega Autonomista Lombarda (Lombard Autonomist League, LAL) was officially established by Bossi, who used the resonance of the name of the historical Lega Lombarda when choosing

817-741: The Movement for Local Autonomies in the province of Bergamo . In 1956 Guido Calderoli established the Bergamasque Autonomist Movement , which later evolved in the Autonomist Lombard Regional Movement and the Autonomist Padanian Regional Movement, before re-joining Christian Democracy . Calderoli would later form a short-lived Lega Lombarda and the Union of Autonomists of Italy, which obtained 0.06% of

860-546: The area house by house, because we kicked the fascists out of here once before after the war." While being Reforms minister in 2003 Bossi ordered the Navy to fire live rounds on boats holding illegal immigrants, stating: "After the second or third warning, bang… we fire the cannon." Bossi was critical of the European Union , and once described it as a "nest of communist bankers". Bossi began his institutional career in 1987 as

903-476: The confiscation of the funds remained in place." The ruling was published on 5 November 2019 after a Court of Appeals ruling of 26 November 2018 and initial ruling of 24 July 2017, related to the party's financial statements of 2009 and 2010. Piedmontese Union Piedmontese Union ( Union Piemontèisa , UP) was a regionalist political party active in Piedmont . It was founded in 1981 by Roberto Gremmo ,

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946-528: The death of Salvadori in a car accident during the summer of 1980, Bossi began focusing more on Lombardy . After two years, the autonomist Lombard League was born. In that period Bossi met his second wife, Manuela Marrone. The Lega Lombarda would later seek alliances with similar movements in Veneto and Piedmont , forming the Northern League , of which he was the federal secretary until 5 April 2012. He became

989-539: The government over pension reform. The break-up of the coalition supporting the government and its replacement by Lamberto Dini 's "technocratic" government , thanks to the LN's support, led Negri and others to defect to the Federalist Italian League or the Federalists and Liberal Democrats , while Maroni, despite disagreements with Bossi, chose to stay in the party and was warmly re-welcomed by Bossi. Negri

1032-430: The leading member of the coalition named Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord (LL–AN), which included other five regional parties: the LV, Autonomist Piedmont , Ligurian Union , Emilia-Romagna League and Tuscan Alliance . In Lombardy the list obtained 8.1% in Lombardy and two MEPs , Francesco Speroni and Luigi Moretti . In 1989–1990 the LL took part in the process of federating the northern regionalist parties, ahead of

1075-536: The name, Giuseppe Leoni , Manuela Marrone (Bossi's future wife), Pierangelo Brivio (Marrone's brother-in-law), Marino Moroni and Emilio Sogliaghi, but not Maroni who had taken a hiatus from politics and would return in 1989. In the 1984 European Parliament election , the LL joined forces with the LV, the Trentino Tyrolean People's Party , the Piedmontese Union and other minor parties, obtaining 0.5% of

1118-420: The northern autonomous regions and provinces (the future Lega Vallée d'Aoste , Lega Alto Adige Südtirol , Lega Trentino , Lega Friuli and Lega Trieste ) into Lega Nord (LN). Since then, the LL has been the "national" section of the LN in Lombardy. Bossi was subsequently elected federal secretary of the LN, while maintaining the role of national secretary of the LL for a while. In the 1992 general election

1161-506: The only senator of the Northern League , of which he was the leader. He was then given the nickname Senatur (pron. [sena'tu:r]), senator in Lombard , which stuck even when he was later elected as an MP in the Italian Chamber of Deputies . He was instrumental in the unexpected victory of Silvio Berlusconi 's coalition in 1994, but he broke the alliance after just a few months, with

1204-475: The party elected its new leadership at a congress in June. Matteo Salvini ran as candidate of the faction around Roberto Maroni , while Cesarino Monti , a former mayor and senator, was the candidate of the old guard and of Bossi's loyalists. Salvini won the election with 74% of the votes, that is to say the support of 403 delegates out of 532. Soon after, Giorgetti was appointed national president. In July 2012 Maroni

1247-548: The party through 2020. In February 2021 Cecchetti replaced Grimoldi as pro-tempore coordinator. Grimoldi would become a frequent critic of the political line of the federal party, perceived to be too Rome-centric. After the disappointing result 2022 general election , in which the party was reduced to 13.3% of the vote in Lombardy, some leading members of the party's traditional wing, rooted in Padanian nationalism, formed Comitato Nord (English: Northern Committee , CN). The Committee

1290-596: The party won 28.0% of the vote and Salvini, as deputy prime minister and minister of the Interior, plus other two LL members would serve in Giuseppe Conte 's first government until September 2019. In 2021 the party would join Mario Draghi 's government with two LL members, Giorgetti as minister of Economic Development and Massimo Garavaglia as minister of Tourism. Following the formation of Lega per Salvini Premier and

1333-729: The political agreement called the "Alliance of the North" (Asse del Nord). He also met a representative of the Lega dei Ticinesi , a Swiss localist Movement led by the Luganese entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca . During his speech Bossi spoke against the "Europe of Masons". During the national elections of 2006 he signed a political agreement with the Movement for Autonomy , led by the Sicilian politician Raffaele Lombardo . On 17 September 2006, he returned in Venice for

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1376-461: The private affairs of his family, Umberto Bossi resigned as federal secretary of Northern League. Italian prosecutors have alleged that Bossi used the money earmarked for his party on his house renovations and on favours for his family. Following the resignation, the Lega Nord instantly gave him the honorary position of party President. Leadership of the Northern League was initially entrusted to

1419-469: The results before Lega Nord 's founding are reported here. Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania . He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has four sons, of whom one was from his first wife. Bossi

1462-615: The tenth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Padania. He declared that the Parliament of the North must be opened again. On 2 February 2007, in Vicenza , he officially opened the first monthly meeting of the Parliament of the North. Umberto Bossi and Lega Nord have now abandoned the idea of independence for Padania, proposed in 1996. In September 2007, Bossi accepted an invitation by Father Florian Abrahamowicz to his celebration of

1505-508: The time of the events Alessandro Patelli, for receiving a 200-million-lire bribe in a trial that also convicted many of the politicians he routinely attacked, such as Bettino Craxi , Arnaldo Forlani and others. Bossi's sentence was upheld on appeal. In 1998, Bossi received a one-year suspended prison sentence for incitement of violence after he uttered the following sentence at a Lega Nord meeting: "We must hunt down these rascals [neo-fascists], and if they take votes from us, then let's comb

1548-625: The undisputed and unchallenged leader of the party, a position that he maintained until 2012, even after a serious stroke. He is currently the League's federal president, an honorary title devoid of real power, and is trying to regain the leadership of the movement he founded. When the scandals of Tangentopoli were unveiled from 1992 on, Bossi rode the wave, presenting himself as the new man in politics, and set out to sweep away corruption and incompetence. Bossi himself received an eight-month suspended prison sentence, along with Northern League's treasurer at

1591-481: The vote countrywide and 0.7% in the province of Varese (the LV was stronger than the LL at the time). In the 1985 regional election the LL won 0.5% of the vote. In 1986 the party took the current name. In the 1987 general election , the LL gained 2.6% of the vote in Lombardy : Bossi was elected to the Senate and Leoni to the Chamber of Deputies . The party participated in the 1989 European Parliament election as

1634-513: The vote in the 1970 regional election . In the late 1970s Umberto Bossi , a former activist of the Italian Communist Party , emerged as the leading figure of Lombard nationalism. Through contacts with regional nationalist movements and parties, like the Valdostan Union (party leader Bruno Salvadori , who died in a car accident in 1980, was a close friend), the Ossolan Union for Autonomy ,

1677-511: Was born in 1941 in Cassano Magnago , in the province of Varese , Lombardy . He graduated from scientific high school ( liceo scientifico ) and later began studying medicine at the University of Pavia , though he did not get a degree. In 1975 he was a member of the Italian Communist Party for a brief period. In February 1979 he met Bruno Salvadori, leader of the Valdostan Union . After

1720-418: Was elected as an independent and a seventh (Gianni Fava) on behalf of the minority. In December Stucchi was elected president of LL, replacing Giorgetti, who whose more and more involved at the federal level as deputy of Salvini. In the 2018 regional election LL's Attilio Fontana was elected President of Lombardy with 49.8% of the vote and the party obtained 29.4%. Contextually, in the 2018 general election

1763-565: Was elected federal secretary of the LN by its federal congress. The Lombard delegates elected six members to the federal council: Giacomo Stucchi , Paolo Grimoldi , Andrea Mascetti , Gianni Fava , Simona Bordonali , and, on behalf of the minority, Marco Desiderati . In the 2013 regional election Maroni was elected President of Lombardy with 42.8% of the vote and the party won 23.2% (combined result of party list and Maroni's personal list). In November 2013 Salvini succeeded to Maroni as Lega Nord's federal secretary and, later on, he appointed

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1806-490: Was inspired by Umberto Bossi and, under the leadership of Grimoldi and Angelo Ciocca , it attracted more than one thousand members in a couple of months. The inaugural event of the Committee, held in early December, was attended by some 600 people, including former ministers Roberto Castelli and Francesco Speroni . Contextually, provincial congresses were held in some of the party's strongholds: critics of Salvini affiliated with

1849-421: Was replaced as secretary by Roberto Calderoli , grandnewphew of Guido Calderoli, who, as president, had evicted him from the party, despite being his brother-in-law. Calderoli led the party to its best result up to that point in the 1996 general election , when it gained 25.5%. After the 2000 regional election , the party joined the regional government and has since been a member of it, with no exceptions. After

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