Vannacci poaches Forza Italia's Milan chief, vows to name mayoral candidate before August break

Defection from Forza Italia

Luca Bernardo, who led Forza Italia's group in Milan's city council and ran as the centre-right's mayoral candidate in 2021, announced on 23 July 2026 that he was leaving the party to join Roberto Vannacci's Futuro Nazionale. The move was made official at a press conference attended by regional councillor Luca Ferrazzi, with Vannacci appearing via video link. Bernardo had been visibly dissatisfied for weeks. He was not invited to a lunch hosted by Senate President Ignazio La Russa for five centre-right mayoral hopefuls, and he received little backing from his own party for a fresh candidacy.

I am left speechless reading that Luca Bernardo has announced he is joining Futuro Nazionale. I will talk to him in private, but it is truly incomprehensible when I think of his gentlemanly manner. I see no convergence with General Vannacci.

Vannacci's Milan ambitions

Vannacci used the occasion to paint Milan as a city in crisis. "Milan is the most unsafe city in Italy, living the drama of delinquency, baby gangs, robberies and thefts," he said. He argued that the mayor is the first actor responsible for security and promised that Futuro Nazionale would field a candidate capable of making the city safe again. The name, he added, would be revealed before the August break. "Keep your ears pricked," he told reporters, adding that "nobody will rest in August."

I don't rule out anything because I want to keep the surprise effect tightly in my hands. The legion here exceeds 340 presences and there is room for everyone.

Vannacci did not close the door on an alliance with the broader centre-right, but he set a firm condition: "Futuro Nazionale does not negotiate its principles." He also took a swipe at Forza Italia figure Letizia Moratti, calling her recent call for a censure against him proof of "crass ignorance" of military rank regulations.

Reactions and controversy

Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala reacted with disbelief. "I will talk to him to understand, I would find it very strange, it seems a somewhat peculiar choice," he said. Within Forza Italia, the departure reopened old wounds. Alessandro Chirico, whom Bernardo had replaced as group leader two years ago, questioned the party's direction: "Where is that merit someone fills their mouth with for their own gain? Anyone can knock on Forza Italia's door and be rewarded without any political virtue?"

Outside Milan, Azione leader Carlo Calenda demanded that the parliamentary intelligence committee investigate whether Vannacci "takes money from the Russians and benefits from bots and fake social media accounts to pollute our democracies." Vannacci's movement claims 130,000 members nationwide, a figure he regularly cites to argue that Futuro Nazionale is more than a personal vehicle.

What comes next

Futuro Nazionale now has its first councillor inside Palazzo Marino, and party figures say more defections from the League's benches may follow. Massimiliano Bastoni, a former Lega councillor who has been building company-level FN committees among transport workers, described Bernardo's arrival as proof that the party is not a collection of ultras or skinheads. "Many adhesions in the province of Milan come from Forza Italia, from people who wrote its history," he said. Vannacci's promised candidate announcement is expected within days, and the choice will signal whether the party intends to run alone or seek a pact with Meloni's coalition.