A reformed Marxist who has been described as Italy's answer to Tony Blair has taken a giant step towards becoming the country's next prime minister.

Walter Veltroni, currently the mayor of Rome, has won a landslide victory in the "primary" election to lead the new Democratic Party.

More than three-and-a-half million supporters took part in the polls.

Mr Veltroni won almost 76 per cent of the vote. Romano Prodi, the prime minister, will assume a ceremonial role as president of the new party.

The Democratic Party is set to become Italy's single-largest political party, eclipsing Forza Italia, the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi.

Mr Veltroni has promised that the new party will group together Italy's fractious left-wing under a single banner, as in the United States or the UK.

"We are realising a dream," said Mr Veltroni. "We are, as of today, the most important party in the country."

The 52-year-old jazz fanatic and film buff is wildly popular, and recent surveys show that support for the government would rise by 11 points if he was in charge.

His victory means he will contest the next election, probably against Silvio Berlusconi. Pundits are suggesting that a vote could come as early as next year, and no one expects Mr Prodi's government to last a full term.

Indeed, Mr Veltroni's rise to power will put Mr Prodi under further pressure.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper commented that "people might say Mr Prodi's leadership is over".

La Repubblica, another newspaper, commented that the vote signalled the beginning of "a difficult cohabitation".

However, the two men insisted that their relationship is "bomb-proof".

Mr Prodi said his role would be "as a midwife" for the new party.

In the six years since Mr Veltroni took charge of Rome, the city has enjoyed an unrivalled boom, with the local economy growing by an average of 6.1 per cent a year, compared to the national average of 1.4 per cent.

He has rekindled the city's Dolce Vita era of the 1950s, luring back a host of film stars and fashionistas.

Sarah Jessica Parker said the city's tribute to Valentino earlier this year was "the most glamorous fashion show of all time".

For years, Mr Veltroni was a communist, but is now a committed centrist and the father of "buonismo", or "good-ism", politics.

Buonismo is defined by one dictionary as the "ostentatious display of good feelings, tolerance and benevolence towards one's adversaries."

Mr Veltroni's style has won him friends on both sides of the political spectrum and enabled him to pull off some remarkable deals.

He remains close to the Vatican even though he ignored the Church's opposition when he set up a "gay village" in Rome.

A former journalist, and a best-selling novelist, he also has a talent for publicity. Recently, he invited Veronica Lario, Mr Berlusconi's wife, to join his new party.

She graciously declined. However, he has been criticized as a triumph of style over substance, especially over his management of Rome.

Although the city now has a lavish calendar of concerts and events, almost nothing has been done to solve growing problems with traffic, crime and immigration.

His latest scheme, announced last week, is a deal with Romania to swap screenings of Italian films for Romanian police officers to keep Rome's growing population of Romany gypsies under control.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed