The politics of Veneto, a region of Italy, takes place in the framework of an "anomalous presidential" representative democracy or prime-ministerial system with an executive presidency, whereby the President of Veneto is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
Veneto traces back to the history of the Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic and its current formed is envisioned by the Italian Constitution of 1948 and was formally instituted as a region in 1970.
The Statute of Veneto was first promulgated in 1971 and largely rewritten in 2012. Article 1 defines Veneto as an "autonomous region, according to the present Statute, in harmony with the Italian Constitution and the principles of the legal system of the European Union", "constituted by the Venetian people and the territories of the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza", with Venice as capital city, and maintaining "bonds with Venetians around the world". Article 2 sets forth the principle of the "self-government of the Venetian people" and mandates the Region to "promote the historical identity of the Venetian people and its civilisation".
Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism or Venetism, a political movement demanding more autonomy and, to some extent, independence for the region. On 22 October 2017 the so-called "autonomy referendum" took place in Veneto. Citizens were asked whether they wanted "further forms and special conditions of autonomy to be attributed to the Region of Veneto". 57.2% of Venetians participated and 98.1% voted "yes".
The president of Veneto is Alberto Stefani of Liga Veneta–Lega, by far the largest party in the Regional Council.
Political history Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Veneto were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades, but also the main opposition parties, namely the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party, had a good sway among Venetian voters. In the 1919 general election, the first held with proportional representation, the Catholic-inspired Italian People's Party came first with 42.6% (gaining at least 10% more than in any other region) and the Socialists were in second place with 36.2%. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Veneto was one of the few regions, along with Lombardy and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party.Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
From World War II to 1994 Veneto was the heartland of Christian Democracy, which polled 60.5% in the 1953 general election and steadily above 50% until the late 1970s, and led the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In the 1990s Veneto became a stronghold of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition, which governed the region from 1995 to 2010 under Giancarlo Galan of Forza Italia. In 2010 Galan was replaced by Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who obtained a hefty and record-breaking 60.2% of the vote and whose coalition government included The People of Freedom/Forza Italia and, since 2013, the New Centre-Right;In 2009 Forza Italia was merged into The People of Freedom, which was transformed into the new Forza Italia in 2013, causing the split of the New Centre-Right. Liga Veneta was the largest party with 35.2% of the vote. Zaia and Liga Veneta were confirmed in 2015, with a reduced but more cohesive majority, due to the split of Tosi List for Veneto and the diminishment of Forza Italia: Zaia won 50.1% of the vote, while Liga Veneta a thumping 40.9% (combined score of party list and Zaia's personal list), largely ahead of the opposition Democratic Party's 20.5%. Zaia and Liga Veneta were again confirmed in 2020: the first won a record-breaking 76.8% of the vote, while the party 61.5% (combined score of party list and Zaia's personal list). In 2025 Alberto Stefani of Liga Veneta was elected president with 64.4% of the vote, succeeding Zaia, who was term-limited and led the party in all seven provinces, winning 36.3% of the vote (Zaia's personal list did not run because of coalition agreements with the Brothers of Italy, Liga Veneta's junior partner in the regional government and Lega's senior partner in the Italian government) and 203,054 (write-in) personal preferences, the all-time record in Italian regional elections.
Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism (or Venetism), a political movement that appeared in the 1970s, demanding political and fiscal autonomy for the region (which is felt by Venetists to be a nation in its own right) and promoting Venetian culture, language and history. This was the background from which Liga Veneta emerged in 1980. In the 1990s and 2000s other Venetist parties (the Union of the Venetian People, the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, Lega Autonomia Veneta, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project, etc.) emerged, but they never touched the popularity of Liga Veneta, which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Some Venetists have campaigned for federal reform and/or autonomy, others (notably including the Venetian National Party, the Party of the Venetians, Veneto State, Venetian Independence, Veneto First, Plebiscito.eu, Venetian Left, Independence We Veneto and We Are Veneto) for outright independence. Other than Liga Veneta, two Venetist political parties (Resist Veneto and Liga Veneta Repubblica, including Venetian Independence) are currently represented in the Regional Council of Veneto.
Executive branch
The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione) or President of the Regional Government (Presidente della Giunta Regionale), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed by the President and up to ten Assessors (Assessori), i.e. regional ministers, including a Vice President (Vice Presidente).
Current composition
Alberto Stefani was officially declared as President on 5 December 2025. The government composition was announced on 13 December 2025.
List of presidents
Legislative branch
The Regional Council of Veneto (Consiglio Regionale del Veneto) is composed of 51 members. 49 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the remaining two are the elected President and the candidate for President who comes second. The winning coalition wins a bonus of seats in order to make sure the elected President has a majority in the Council.
The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent (literally: "they will stand together or they will fall together") clause introduced in 1999, also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.
Current composition
Local government
Provinces
Veneto is subdivided into seven provinces. They include Venice, which became a metropolitan city in 2015. In the latter case, the mayor of Venice functions authomatically also as metropolitan mayor, without any specific election.
All the seven provinces, but especially Vicenza, Verona and Padua, were long Christian Democratic heartlands. In the early 1990s, when the Venetian and Italian party systems experienced huge realignments, Treviso, Vicenza and Verona became strongholds of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, while in Padua, the region's most populated, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia was the dominant political force; only two provinces, Venice and Rovigo, have traditionally been the powerbases of the centre-left coalition and, more recently, the Democratic Party, while Belluno was long a swing province. In the 2020 regional election Liga Veneta, which fielded two lists, came largely first in each and every province.
After a reform was enacted in 2014, provinces have lost most powers to the region and the municipalities, and, contextually, provincial presidents have been elected by mayors and municipal councillors, whose votes are weighted according to the population of their municipalities. In some cases, elected presidents represent bipartisan or trans-party coalitions. For instance, in 2014 Enoch Soranzo was elected in Padua thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party, while the majority of the centre-right coalition had endorsed another candidate Achille Variati was endorsed both by the Democrats and Forza Italia in Vicenza. More recently, in 2022 Sergio Giordani was the unopposed joint candidate of all running parties in Padua and Andrea Nardin, who would later join the Brothers of Italy, was supported by a cross-bench coalition composed mainly by Liga Veneta and the Democratic Party, formed against the official candidate of the Brothers of Italy, in Vicenza. In 2026 Daniele Canella of Liga Veneta was elected with no opposition to succeed to Giordani in Padua, being supported by all parties, especially the Democratic Party, while he had originally lost his party's nomination.https://reteveneta.medianordest.it/120614/padova-provincia-canella-presenta-la-sua-candidatura-a-presidente-sostegno-del-territorio/
In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures and, in case of non-party independent presidents supported by partisan coalitions, the party to which the mayor is closest or the largest party in the coalition is indicated in brackets. As of 2026, four provinces out of seven are led by presidents who are members of Liga Veneta.
Province Inhabitants President Party Election Province of Padua931,572Daniele CanellaLV2026 Province of Verona927,862Flavio Massimo PasiniLV2023 Province of Treviso878,424Marco DonadelLV2026 Province of Vicenza854,683Andrea NardinFdI2023 Metropolitan City of Venice834,632Simone Venturini(metropolitan mayor)Ind. (FdI)2026 Province of Rovigo227,535Enrico FerrareseLV2026 Province of Belluno197,645Marco Staunovo PolaccoLV2026
Municipalities Twenty-six comuni, hence municipalities, of Veneto have more than 25,000 inhabitants.
Of these, the Democratic Party and the Brothers of Italy have five mayors each, Liga Veneta four, Forza Italia two, Liga Veneta Repubblica and Us Moderates one each. Additionally, nine mayors are non-party independents: four jointly supported by Liga Veneta, the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia, three by the Democratic Party and its centre-left allies, two by local non-partisan coalitions.
In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures and, in case of non-party independent mayors supported by partisan coalitions, the party to which the mayor is closest or the largest party in the coalition is indicated in brackets.