Italy: Former PM Matteo Renzi resigns after election defeat

 

Former Italy PM Matteo Renzi resigned as head of the Democratic Party in Rome on Monday following election defeat where his party collected only 19% of votes.

Renzi, 43, became Prime Minister in 2014 and resigned in 2016 after another electoral defeat in a constitutional referendum.

“It’s obvious after this result that I should leave the leadership of the Democratic Party,” Renzi said at the press conference, adding that he now simply a senator after winning in his hometown of Florence.