Five Star Movement seizes Rome, Turin

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement in Italy won the mayoral races in Rome and Turin as they made big gains nation-wide.

Virginia Raggi will become Rome’s first female leader, in a victory seen as a blow to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

PD has secured Italy’s financial capital, Milan, and Bologna.

The results could give anti-globalist Five Star a platform for parliamentary elections due in 2018, observers say.

Italy local elections were held in two stages, with a first round a fortnight ago and the second round on Sunday.

Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer who was little known just a few months ago, was on course to win two-thirds of the vote, defeating the PD candidate, Roberto Giachetti.

Five Star's win in Rome is seen as a blow to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

“I will be a mayor for all Romans. I will restore legality and transparency to the city’s institutions after 20 years of poor governance. With us a new era is opening,” she said.

Raggi will find a city mired in debts of more than €13bn – twice its annual budget.

Romans are frustrated by potholes, piles of rubbish and serious deficiencies in public transport and housing.

In Turin, another Five Star woman, Chiara Appendino, inflicted an additional blow on the Democratic Party, whose candidate had come out on top in the first round of voting two weeks ago.

Founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009, Five Star has been campaigning against the corruption that has plagued Italian politics for years.

PD’s Ignazio Marino resigned as mayor of Rome in October over an expenses scandal. The city has been without a mayor since then.