Milan: upheaval in the centre-right as Forza Italia’s parliamentary group leader switches sides to join Vannacci
Luca Bernardo has left his party and joined Futuro Nazionale. The official announcement was made on Thursday morning, with the general joining via video link.
Key points
Just a few weeks ago, he had indicated to the centre-right and his party, Forza Italia, that he was willing to stand again as a candidate for mayor of Milan. Today Luca Bernardo, who is the group leader for the ‘Azzurri’ in the City Council, has announced his split from the party by joining Roberto Vannacci’s Futuro Nazionale. The official announcement will be made on Thursday morning at the City Council’s group headquarters, with the party leader joining via video link. However, the news has been confirmed by regional councillor Luca Ferrazzi, who has already joined Futuro Nazionale alongside his colleague Pietro Macconi. “Luca Bernardo’s membership,” explains Ferrazzi, “marks a new step in Futuro Nazionale’s growth, helping to strengthen its political presence in the city of Milan and to consolidate the movement’s roots in the local area and within the institutions.”
Not being invited to lunch with La Russa
No comment, however, from Bernardo himself. Although sources from Forza Italia suggest that Bernardo had for some time harboured strong dissatisfaction with the city party leadership. Furthermore, his willingness to stand again as mayor a few weeks ago did not receive the support he had expected from the Milanese party. ‘In 2021, my candidacy was a last-minute affair,’ Bernardo had explained when he announced his intention to stand again for mayor, ‘with just one month of campaigning. I see a field crowded with candidates, so I’m ready to stand again myself.’ But on Monday, there was a lunch organised by Ignazio La Russa with the prospective candidates, and he hadn’t even been invited. This realisation may well have convinced him even more to switch parties.
The 2021 mayoral race
Futuro Nazionale is thus making its mark, following its entry into the Lombardy Regional Council, at Milan City Council as well – with the very same candidate who represented the centre-right in the 2021 mayoral race against Giuseppe Sala. Luca Bernardo, a paediatric specialist at Fatebenefratelli Hospital, put forward his candidacy at the very last minute following months of uncertainty within the centre-right; however, his bid proved to be uncompetitive, to the extent that the outgoing mayor, Giuseppe Sala, won in the first round.
The controversy over the gun in the hospital
During that election campaign, Bernardo found himself at the centre of a controversy following allegations by +Europa regional councillor Michele Usuelli that he, as head of paediatrics at Fatebenefratelli Hospital, was carrying a gun whilst on the ward. “I’ve never taken the gun into the ward amongst the children,” he had defended himself. “If I stay in hospital at night – given that I’ve been threatened – I have on occasion carried it, but never into the ward, nor will I ever do so.”
