| People's Union | |
| Native Name: | Unione Popolare |
| Leader: | Vacant |
| Founder: | Luigi de Magistris |
| Ideology: | Left-wing populism Socialism Factions: Democratic socialism Communism |
| Position: | Left-wing to far-left |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Deputies |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate |
| Seats3 Title: | European Parliament |
| Seats4 Title: | Regional Councils |
| Website: | unionepopolare.blog |
| Country: | Italy |
The People's Union (Italian: Unione Popolare, UP) is a left-wing political alliance in Italy launched on 9 July 2022 by Luigi de Magistris.
During a national assembly of Democracy and Autonomy (DemA) in January 2022, Luigi de Magistris, party leader and former Mayor of Naples, announced his intention to create a new coalition of left-wing parties, starting from his own party.[1] In February, four deputies founded a sub-group at the Chamber of Deputies called "ManifestA". All of them had been elected in the 2018 general election for the Five Star Movement, a big-tent populist party, and then left the party and joined either Power to the People (PaP) or Communist Refoundation Party (PRC).[2] [3]
In April, at the Chamber of Deputies, de Magistris and the four deputies of ManifestA, held a joint conference to launch a coalition of parties opposed to the Russo-Ukrainian war and Mario Draghi's government for the next general election, initially scheduled to be held in 2023. He also stated that the group would not join the centre-left coalition led by the Democratic Party.[4] [5] [6]
In July, De Magistris organised an assembly named "Towards the People's Union", which was attended also by PaP, the PRC, ManifestA and other groups.[7] [8]
The alliance participated in the 2022 general election, receiving over 400,000 votes and zero seats.[9]
In December, the 4th October Movement, a brekaway-party from the Five Star Movement, announced they will join the UP, along with their two regional councillors in Piedmont.[10]
In the run-up of the 2024 European Parliament election the UP and its components joined Peace Land Dignity, a pacifist electoral list proposed by journalist Michele Santoro. In March 2024 de Magistris, after refusing to stand as a candidate in the upcoming election, left UP's leadership altogether.[11]
| Party | Main ideology | Leader(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democracy and Autonomy (DemA) | Left-wing populism | Luigi de Magistris | ||
| Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) | Communism | Maurizio Acerbo | ||
| Power to the People (PaP) | Left-wing populism[12] | Giuliano Granato, Marta Collot | ||
| ManifestA | Communism[13] | None | ||
| Socialist Rebirth (RS) | Socialism | Franco Bartolomei | ||
| Party of the South (PdS)[14] | Regionalism | Natale Cuccurese | ||
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||||||||
| width=13% | Election year | width=16% | Votes | width=6% | % | width=1% | Seats | width=8% | +/− | width=18% | Leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 402,964 | 1.43 | |||||||||
| Senate of the Republic | |||||||||||
| width=13% | Election year | width=16% | Votes | width=6% | % | width=1% | Seats | width=8% | +/− | width=18% | Leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 374,051 | 1.36 | |||||||||
| Region | Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazio | 2023 | 10,289 (14th) | 0.7 | |||
| Lombardy | 2023 | 39,913 (11th) | 1.4 |