Five Star Movement

The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The M5S is primarily described as populist of the syncretic kind, due to its long-time indifference to the left–right political spectrum, although it has also been variously considered as left-wing or right-wing populist. The party has been a proponent of green politics and direct democracy; since 2022, it has started a shift toward the political left and also espoused social-democratic and progressive policies. Furthermore, following an online vote held in November 2024, party members themselves decided to identify as "independent progressives".

In the 2013 general election, the M5S obtained 25.6% of the vote, but rejected a proposed coalition government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and joined the opposition. In 2016 M5S' Chiara Appendino and Virginia Raggi were elected mayors of Turin and Rome, respectively. The M5S supported the successful "no" vote in the 2016 constitutional referendum. In the 2018 general election, the M5S, led by Luigi Di Maio, became the largest party with 32.7% and successfully formed a government headed by M5S-backed independent Giuseppe Conte together with the League. After the 2019 government collapsed, the party formed a new government with the PD, with Conte remaining prime minister until the 2021 government crisis, which resulted in the formation of the Draghi government. Since 2019 the M5S has occasionally sided with the centre-left coalition in regional and local elections, but not yet in general elections. In the 2022 general election, the party suffered a substantial setback, was reduced to 15.4% and joined the opposition to the Meloni government. In the 2024 Sardinian regional election, M5S' Alessandra Todde was elected president of Sardinia, the party's first regional president, at the head of a centre-left coalition.

From the establishment of the association named Five Star Movement until 2021, Grillo formally served as president, his nephew Enrico Grillo as vice president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi as secretary. In 2014 Grillo appointed a five-strong directory, composed of Di Maio, Alessandro Di Battista, Roberto Fico, Carla Ruocco and Carlo Sibilia, which lasted only a few months as Grillo proclaimed himself the political head of the M5S. Grillo was succeeded as political head by Di Maio, who won the 2017 leadership election with 82% of the vote, and was appointed guarantor instead. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, Grillo separated his own blog, which was used the party's online newspaper, with the brand-new Blog delle Stelle. After the 2021 leadership election, a new party statute was approved and Conte became the new president, while Grillo continued as guarantor. The M5S has undergone several splits since its formation, including Alternative, Environment 2050 and Di Maio's Together for the Future, as well as several individual members, notably including Di Battista. In late 2024 the party held a "constituent assembly", during which it was chiefly decided to remove the role of guarantor, thus sidelining Grillo, who challenged the decision, but eventually lost.

From 2014 to 2017, the M5S was a member of the EFFD group in the European Parliament, along with the UK Independence Party and minor Eurosceptic parties. In January 2017, M5S members voted in favour of Grillo's proposal to join the ALDE Group, but the party was eventually refused and continued to sit among non-attached members, until joining The Left following the 2024 European Parliament election.

On 16 July 2005, Beppe Grillo suggested through his blog that supporters adopt social networks, such as Meetup, to communicate and coordinate local meetings. The first "40 Friends of Beppe Grillo" meetups began with the initial aim to "have fun, get together, share ideas and proposals for a better world, starting from one's own city, and discuss and develop my posts, if you believe them". Meetups featured thematic working groups on topics entitled "technology and innovation", "press-communication", "ethical consumerism", "currency study", "no incinerators", and others. From these beginnings, Grillo was asked to stand in the October 2005 centre-left coalition primaries for the selection of the prime ministerial candidate of The Union.

On three occasions (17 December 2005 in Turin, 26 March 2006 in Piacenza, and 16 to 18 June 2006 in Sorrento), the representatives of the Friends of Beppe Grillo meetups held national meetings with Grillo, where proposals regarding environmental issues such as the replacement of polluting incinerators with systems applying mechanical-biological waste treatment were discussed.

During the fourth national meeting held in Genoa on 3 February 2007, Grillo announced his desire to provide an autonomous space during his touring shows for local meetup activists. On 14 July 2007, some civic list representatives who participated in local elections the previous spring met in Parma to establish a national coordination between associations, movements, and organisations. They met to practice promoting and experimenting with direct and participatory democracy, and to share a document of intent, which included the establishment of proposals, abrogative referendums, the direct election of the Ombudsman, the institution of participatory budgeting, a bound mandate for public administrators, and open primaries.

On 14 June 2007, Grillo launched Vaffanculo Day (Fuck-off Day), or V-Day, in Bologna. V-Day was meant to mobilise the collection of signatures to submit a popular initiative seeking to introduce preferences in the current electoral law and to prevent parliamentary candidate nominations for the criminally convicted and those who have already completed two terms in office.