Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani emerged as a favourite to be Italy’s next prime minister after early results showed him winning a centre-left primary yesterday before a general election.

The 61-year-old former Communist Party man and two-time government minister who spearheaded a liberalisation programme while in office appears to have beaten off his rival, Florence’s charismatic 37-year-old mayor Matteo Renzi.

Bersani was ahead with 60.83 per cent against 39.17 per cent for Renzi with more than half the votes counted from thousands of polling stations.

Final results are expected to be announced today, but Renzi conceded defeat early with a Twitter message saying: “It was right to give it a try.”

All recent opinion polls indicate the Democratic Party will win elections expected in March or April 2013, although without an outright majority.

Bersani has said he will follow the broad course of reforms set by Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has pulled Italy back from the brink of bankruptcy.

He has also said however he would push for more growth and jobs and moderate some of the austerity measures implemented by Monti, whose cuts have created growing resentment among many Italians towards his unelected technocrat government.

The primary has been seen as an important milestone for the left because the wave of support for Renzi, despite his ultimate defeat, could move the Democratic Party towards a more centrist political stance comparable to Britain’s “New Labour”.

Renzi travelled across Italy in a camper van and held rallies under the slogan: “Let’s Change Italy Now!” Before beginning his campaign, he attended the Democratic National Convention in the US and is an admirer of US Presid-ent Barack Obama.

In the run-up to the primary, Bersani tried to spruce up his old-school image by taking to social media and promoting women to senior posts.