1972 Italian general election

1972 Italian general election

← 1968 7 May 1972 1976 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 316 seats needed for a majority All 315 elective seats in the Senate 162 seats needed for a majority[a]
Registered	37,049,351 (C) · 33,739,592 (S)
Turnout	34,525,687 (C) · 93.2% (0.4 pp) 31,486,399 (S) · 93.3% (0.3 pp)
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Arnaldo Forlani Enrico Berlinguer Francesco De Martino Party DC PCI PSI Leader since 9 November 1969 17 March 1972 13 March 1971[c] Leader's seat Ancona (C) Rome (C) Naples (C) Seats won 266 (C) / 135 (S) 179 (C) / 94 (S)[b] 61 (C) / 33 (S) Seat change 0 (C) / 0 (S) 2 (C) / 7 (S) —[d] Popular vote 12,919,270 (C) 11,465,529 (S) 9,072,454 (C) 8,312,828 (S) 3,210,427 (C) 3,225,707 (S) Percentage 38.7% (C) 38.1% (S) 27.1% (C) 27.6% (S) 10.0% (C) 10.7% (S) Swing 0.4 pp (C) 0.3 pp (S) 0.2 pp (C) 2.4 pp (S) —[d]   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Giorgio Almirante Mario Tanassi Giovanni Malagodi Party MSI PSDI PLI Leader since 29 June 1969[e] 24 February 1972[f] 4 April 1954 Leader's seat Rome (C) Rome (C) Milan (C) Seats won 56 (C) / 26 (S) 20 (C) / 11 (S) 20 (C) / 8 (S) Seat change 32 (C) / 15 (S) —[d] 11 (C) / 8 (S) Popular vote 2,894,722 (C) 2,766,986 (S) 1,718,142 (C) 1,613,810 (S) 1,300,439 (C) 1,319,175 (S) Percentage 8.7% (C) 9.2% (S) 5.1% (C) 5.4% (S) 3.9% (C) 4.4% (S) Swing 4.2 pp (C) 4.6 pp (S) —[d] 1.9 pp (C) 2.4 pp (S)
Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate
Prime Minister before election Giulio Andreotti DC Prime Minister after the election Giulio Andreotti DC

The 1972 Italian general election was held in Italy on 7 May 1972.^[1] The Christian Democracy (DC) remained stable with around 38% of the votes, as did the Communist Party (PCI) which obtained the same 27% it had in 1968. The Socialist Party (PSI) continued in its decline, reducing to less than 10%. The largest increase in vote share was that of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, which nearly doubled its votes from 4.5% to about 9%, after its leader Giorgio Almirante launched the formula of the National Right, proposing his party as the sole group of the Italian right wing. After a disappointing result of less than 2%, against the 4.5% of 1968, the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity was disbanded; a majority of its members joined the PCI.

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