Five Star Movement

The Italian anti establishment party founded in 2009 by Beppe Grillo, which became the largest party of the late 2010s.

Overview

The Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo and strategist Gianroberto Casaleggio grew from mass meetups and blog politics into the largest vote winner of 2013 and 2018, blending digital direct democracy, environmentalism, anti corruption, and welfare expansion outside the traditional left right frame. Luigi Di Maio led it into coalition with the League in 2018 and with the Democratic Party in 2019; Giuseppe Conte, the technocrat prime minister, later became its leader. Support fell by half by 2022. The movement proved that internet organized, leader centered movements can win national power, and that holding it erodes them.