Five Star Movement

The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte.^[13] It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist.^[14] The party is primarily described as populist^[15][16][17] of the syncretic kind,^[18][19][20] due to its long-time indifference to the left–right political spectrum.^[21][22] The party has been a proponent of green politics^[23] and direct democracy,^[24] as well as progressivism,^[12] social democracy^[10] and left-wing populism.^[25] During an online vote held in November 2024, party members decided to identify as "independent progressives".^[26]

In the 2013 general election, the M5S obtained 25.6% of the vote,^[27] but rejected a proposed coalition government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and joined the opposition.^[28][29] In 2016 M5S' Chiara Appendino and Virginia Raggi were elected mayors of Turin and Rome, respectively.^[30] The M5S supported the successful "no" vote in the 2016 constitutional referendum.^[31] In the 2018 general election, the M5S, led by Luigi Di Maio, became the largest party with 32.7%^[32][33][34] and successfully formed a government headed by M5S-backed independent Giuseppe Conte together with the League. After the 2019 government collapsed, the party formed a new government with the PD, with Conte remaining prime minister until the 2021 government crisis, which resulted in the formation of the Draghi government.^[35][36] Since 2019 the M5S has occasionally sided with the centre-left coalition in regional and local elections, but not yet in general elections. In the 2022 general election, the party suffered a substantial setback, was reduced to 15.4% and joined the opposition to the Meloni government.^[37] In the 2024 Sardinian regional election, M5S' Alessandra Todde was elected president of Sardinia, the party's first regional president,^[38][39] at the head of a centre-left coalition.^[40]

From the establishment of the association named Five Star Movement until 2021, Grillo formally served as president, his nephew Enrico Grillo as vice president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi as secretary.^[41][42] In 2014 Grillo appointed a five-strong directory, composed of Di Maio, Alessandro Di Battista, Roberto Fico, Carla Ruocco and Carlo Sibilia,^[43][44] which lasted only a few months as Grillo proclaimed himself the political head of the M5S.^[45] Grillo was succeeded as political head by Di Maio, who won the 2017 leadership election with 82% of the vote, and was appointed guarantor instead.^[46][47] In the run-up of the 2018 general election, Grillo separated his own blog, which was used the party's online newspaper, with the brand-new Blog delle Stelle.^[48] After the 2021 leadership election, a new party statute was approved and Conte became the new president, while Grillo continued as guarantor.^[49] The M5S has undergone several splits since its formation, including Alternative, Environment 2050 and Di Maio's Together for the Future,^[50] as well as several individual members, notably including Di Battista.^[51] In late 2024 the party held a "constituent assembly", during which it was chiefly decided to remove the role of guarantor, thus sidelining Grillo,^[52] who challenged the decision,^[53] but eventually lost.^[54]

From 2014 to 2017, the M5S was a member of the EFFD group in the European Parliament, along with the UK Independence Party and minor Eurosceptic parties. In January 2017, M5S members voted in favour of Grillo's proposal to join the ALDE Group, but the party was eventually refused^[55][56] and continued to sit among non-attached members, until joining The Left following the 2024 European Parliament election.^[57][58]