Manfredi unanimously president of Anci. "The premier sees in mayors loyal interlocutors".

The mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi was unanimously elected president of Anci, the national association of Municipalities, during the ongoing national council meeting in Turin. "I say to the premier that he must see in the mayors loyal, concrete interlocutors, who want to be privileged interlocutors of the government and we will arrive with serious and united proposals. So we expect, and I am very confident that this will happen, a direct, strong interlocution with the premier and the government'. On the sidelines of his election, Manfredi is already looking at the next steps in the confrontation with the government. "We will quickly build an agenda of the municipalities with a series of concrete proposals that we will submit to the premier and I am convinced that we will be able to find a common path to implement them.

'Congratulations and best wishes for good work to the Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, who was unanimously elected President of Anci today'. So said Premier Giorgia Meloni. "We are the Nation of bell towers, villages and identities and the Government considers collaboration with municipalities and mayors, who represent the front line of political commitment and the closest face of the State, to be central. We will continue to work in this direction, as we have done so far, to give concrete answers to citizens and build a more united, strong and cohesive Nation'.

Engineer, rector for six years of the 'Federico II' university, president of the Crui since 2015 (from where he led a bitter fight to increase funds for research) and then university minister in the Conte bis government, Manfredi began his challenge as first citizen of Naples at the end of 2021. To run for mayor, he managed to build a coalition of no less than 13 lists, which in addition to the PD and M5s included the left, Greens, renziani, civics and even Clemente Mastella's Noi Campani. And he was elected in the first round, touching 63%. Because of his vocation for dialogue, accompanied by an aptitude for mediation and the ability to synthesise between sometimes distant positions, he gained consensus even among his opponents on the right.

From the point of view of cursus, although he started out with classical high school studies, he decided to enrol in engineering: he graduated with a 110 cum laude at the age of 24, obtained a research grant, started working and ten years later became a professor of Construction Technology. Married to Cettina Del Piano, a doctor, he has a daughter, Sveva.