| Election Name: | 2010 Lazio regional election |
| Country: | Lazio |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2005 Lazio regional election |
| Previous Year: | 2005 |
| Next Election: | 2013 Lazio regional election |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
| Seats For Election: | All 71 seats to the Regional Council of Lazio |
| Election Date: | 28–29 March 2010 |
| Leader1: | Renata Polverini |
| Party1: | The People of Freedom |
| Color1: | 0A6BE1 |
| Alliance1: | Centre-right coalition (Italy) |
| Seats1: | 45 |
| Seat Change1: | 17 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,409,025 |
| Percentage1: | 51.1% |
| Swing1: | 3.7% |
| Leader2: | Emma Bonino |
| Party2: | Italian Radicals |
| Color2: | EF3E3E |
| Alliance2: | Centre-left coalition (Italy) |
| Seats2: | 29 |
| Seat Change2: | 13 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,331,375 |
| Percentage2: | 48.3% |
| Swing2: | 2.3% |
| President of Lazio | |
| Posttitle: | President of Lazio |
| Before Election: | Piero Marrazzo |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (Italy) |
| After Election: | Renata Polverini |
| After Party: | The People of Freedom |
The Lazio regional election of 2010 took place in Lazio, Italy, on 28–29 March 2010.
Piero Marrazzo of the Democratic Party (PD), who was elected President in 2005, seemed a strong candidate for the centre-left in 2010, being the most popular of the possible candidates and the winner in most head-to-head contests with leading centre-right figures.[1] However, an abrupt scandal invested him in October 2009 and finally led to his dramatic resignation.[2]
After that, the candidate of The People of Freedom (PdL) seemed a shoo-in for victory.[3] As Lazio had been a traditional stronghold of Fini's National Alliance party, that merged into the PdL as junior partner of Berlusconi's Forza Italia in 2007, Renata Polverini, supported by Gianfranco Fini, was chosen.[4] Polverini, a woman, was a strange choice for a centre-right party as she was the respected leader of the General Labour Union (UGL), a trade union close to the former National Alliance but independent from it, and a self-proclaimed "socialist",[5] so that she was praised by left-wingers, including the popular newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano,[4] and criticized by a right-wing newspaper, Il Giornale, that refused to endorse her.[6]
After that, the list of the PdL was disqualified from participating in the election in the Province of Rome,[7] that accounted for four-fifths of the total electorate of Lazio, the election was fairly uncertain, with Bonino in the lead according to some opinion polls.
Despite this, on election day, Polverini beat Bonino in hard-fought battle thanks to a 3.7% swing.
| Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Votes | % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renata Polverini | 1,409,025 | 51.14 | 15 | |||||||
| Polverini List | 646,774 | 26.36 | 15 | |||||||
| The People of Freedom | 291,199 | 11.87 | 7 | |||||||
| Union of the Centre | 150,293 | 6.13 | 3 | |||||||
| The Right | 97,186 | 3.96 | 2 | |||||||
| UDEUR | 21,120 | 0.86 | – | |||||||
| Alliance of the Centre | 17,375 | 0.71 | – | |||||||
| Network Liberal Sgarbi | 15,537 | 0.63 | – | |||||||
| The People of Life – The Voice of Consumers | 12,531 | 0.51 | – | |||||||
| Pensioners' Party | 8,079 | 0.33 | – | |||||||
| Total | 1,260,094 | 51.37 | 27 | |||||||
| Emma Bonino | 1,331,375 | 48.32 | 1 | |||||||
| Democratic Party | 645,187 | 26.30 | 15 | |||||||
| Italy of Values | 211,561 | 8.62 | 5 | |||||||
| Bonino-Pannella List | 80,982 | 3.30 | 2 | |||||||
| Left Ecology Freedom | 77,134 | 3.14 | 2 | |||||||
| Federation of the Left | 67,386 | 2.75 | 1 | |||||||
| Citizens for Bonino | 40,097 | 1.63 | 1 | |||||||
| Italian Socialist Party | 33,160 | 1.35 | 1 | |||||||
| Federation of the Greens | 29,725 | 1.21 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 1,185,232 | 48.31 | 28 | |||||||
| Marzia Marzoli | 14,685 | 0.53 | – | Citizens' Network | 7,860 | 0.32 | – | |||
| Total candidates | 2,755,085 | 100.00 | 16 | Total parties | 2,453,186 | 100.00 | 55 | |||
| Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||||||||