Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won the first of three confidence votes on a fiercely contested new electoral law today, defying rebels on his own side who walked out of parliament to signal their opposition.

The motion passed with 352 votes in favour and 207 against, with around 30 members of his own centre-left Democratic Party (PD) refusing to cast a ballot.

The bill assigns a heavy majority to the winning party or coalition with the aim of ensuring a clear victor emerges from an election. But it has been furiously attacked by both opposition parties and PD dissidents who say it undermines democracy.

Two more confidence votes are due tomorrow on separate articles in the bill and if the government loses either of these it would have to resign, forcing President Sergio Mattarella to try to appoint a new government or call early elections.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.