Rome Elects Its First Female Mayor

Virginia Raggi, the Five Star Movement’s (M5S) candidate, won 67 per cent of the vote in the run-off ballot with the Democratic party’s Roberto Giachetti.

Giachetti conceded defeat less than an hour after polls closed on Sunday.

“For the first time Rome has a female mayor in an age where equality of opportunity remains a mirage,” Raggi, 37, said in her victory speech, the Guardian reported.

“I will be a mayor for all Romans. I will restore legality and transparency to the city’s institutions after 20 years of poor goveance. With us a new era is opening.”

The win by the M5S marks a direct challenge to the Democratic prime minister, Matteo Renzi, and reflects the electorate’s seething discontent with mainstream political parties.

Founded by comedian Beppe Grillo after the economic crisis, M5S received a quarter of the vote in the 2013 national elections but has until now failed to shake off its reputation as a protest party. With Raggi expected to take the reins in Rome when the outcome is announced on Monday, the movement would enter the heart of decision-making in the country’s capital.