| Coraggio Italia | |
| President: | Luigi Brugnaro |
| Leader1 Title: | Vice President |
| Leader1 Name: | Michaela Biancofiore |
| Split: | Forza Italia |
| Headquarters: | Via Gaspare Spontini 22, Rome |
| Ideology: | Liberal conservatism |
| Position: | Centre[1] to centre-right[2] [3] |
| Colours: | Fuchsia Indigo |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Deputies |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate |
| Seats3 Title: | European Parliament |
| Seats4 Title: | Regional Councils |
| Seats5 Title: | Conference of Regions |
| Country: | Italy |
Coraggio Italia ([4] also translatable as 'Cheer up Italy', CI) is a liberal-conservative[5] [6] political party in Italy, led by Luigi Brugnaro.
In February 2021, amid the formation of Mario Draghi's national unity government, Cambiamo! (C!), a liberal-conservative party led by Giovanni Toti, president of Liguria, started to attract new members from the more centrist wing of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI).[7]
In May 2021, Toti and Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice, announced the formation of a new political party[8] mainly composed by dissidents of FI,[9] as well as Gaetano Quagliariello's Identity and Action (an associate party of C!), splinters from other parties,[10] notably including three deputies previously affiliated with the centre-left Democratic Centre (CD).[11] Brugnaro was appointed party president, while deputy Marco Marin, senator Gaetano Quagliariello and Toti vice presidents.[12] [13] During the press conference in which he and Toti launched the new party, Brugnaro thanked Berlusconi, describing him as a "brave leader", but also added that the centre-right "has to move on, it is another era".[14]
In the 2021 Calabrian regional election the party obtained 5.7% of the vote and 2 regional councillors.
In less than a year, CI, which had failed to attract substantial support countrywide, according to opinion polls, experienced an internal crisis. On one side Toti launched the project of a new political party named Italy in the Centre (IaC),[15] [16] on the other side Brugnaro rejected establishment politics[17] and wanted to continue to be part of the centre-right coalition.[18] In February 2022 CI's sub-group within the Mixed Group, previously named "IDeA–Cambiamo!–Europeanists", was re-named "Italy in the Centre".[19] In March, a federation between Coraggio Italia and Italy of the Centre was announced, stating that they would have different organisations and parliamentary groupings.[20]
In the 2022 local elections CI and IaC ran separately in most places. CI obtained relevant results only in Veneto, Brugnaro's home-region, most notably 5.2% in Verona and 4.4% in Padua, while IaC won 9.2% in Genoa, 8.5% in La Spezia, 3.7% in Rieti, 5.2% in L'Aquila and 4.3% in Catanzaro.
In late June 2022 CI and IaC formally split both in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.[21] The joint parliamentary group in the Chamber was dissolved,[22] while six other deputies, including vice president Marin, left the party, founding a new party called Vinciamo Italia,[23] [24] and CI was left with 7 deputies (led by Emilio Carelli)[25] and 2 senators (Andrea Causin and Marinella Pacifico).[26]
In July 2022 a new sub-group named after CI was formed within the Mixed Group of the Chamber of Deputies. The group was led by Fabio Berardini and included 10 deputies: 8 members of CI (not including Carelli) and two representatives of the Associative Movement of Italians Abroad (MAIE).[27] [28] Contextually, in the Senate, a new sub-group composed of three senators, including two senators of CI and one of the MAIE, was formed.[28]
In the run-up of the 2022 general election CI first formed a joint list with Union of the Centre (UdC),[29] then it was a founding member of Us Moderates (NM), a broader joint list within the centre-right coalition, along with the UdC, IaC and Us with Italy (NcI).[30]
In June 2023 Brugnaro announced that CI was no longer part of NM.[31]
In the 2024 European Parliament election CI will support FI.[32]
| Party | Main ideology | Leader | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambiamo! (C!) | Liberal conservatism | Giovanni Toti | ||
| Identity and Action (IDeA) | Christian democracy | Gaetano Quagliariello | ||