Lega Nord leadership election, 2017
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The 2017 Lega Nord leadership election took place on 14 May 2017.
Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, who was elected in the 2013 leadership election, the party embraced a very critical view of the European Union, especially of the Euro, which he described a "crime against mankind". Ahead of 2014 European Parliament election, Salvini started to cooperate with Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Front, and Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom. All this was criticised by LN founder Umberto Bossi, who re-called his left-wing roots, and Mayor of Verona Flavio Tosi, who represented the party's centrist wing and defended the Euro. In March 2015, after a long struggle with Luca Zaia and Salvini, Tosi was ejected from the party. In May 2015 Zaia was re-elected President of Veneto for a second term in the regional election with a landslide.
In the run-up of the 2017 leadership election Salvini was focused on becoming the leader of the centre-right and, possibly, changing the LN's name by ditching "North".Paolo Grimoldi, the regional secretary of Lega Nord for Lombardy, chose not to run (and Roberto Maroni, the President of Lombardy Region, maintained his neutrality), but Giovanni Fava, Lombard minister of Agriculture in the old social-democratic tradition, announced his bid aiming at representing the federalist/autonomist/separatist wings of the party. Gianluca Pini, President of Lega Nord Romagna, supported Fava: note that Fava's best results in this LN primary (over 40% but under 45%) are only in Romagna.
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