Progetto Civico Italia will meet in Rome on 24, 25 and 26 October to present its electoral platform. “We are ready to collect signatures; we are not concerned with parliamentary representation. Stop linking us to Conte – we are different. Renzi? He’s part of the broad coalition, but we are something new.”

To get round the ‘anti-faction’ rule, Rome’s Councillor for Sport is seeking representation in Parliament. He has asked the broad coalition for three MPs, but that is not enough: a party symbol must be submitted by 2022. And the leader of Centro Democratico, who previously supported Bonino and Di Maio, is backing out this time