1979 Italian General Election
3 June 1979 · The First Republic · 630 seats, 162 for a majority
Terrorist attacks by the Red Brigades led to a reversal of the results of the previous election three years before: for the first time the Italian Communist Party lost significant numbers of seats, delaying the government change that had seemed imminent in 1976.
Prime Minister before
Giulio Andreotti
DC
Prime Minister after
Francesco Cossiga
DC
Largest force
Christian Democracy (DC)
262 of 630 seats
Turnout
90.6%
The result
| Share of the Chamber | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Democracy (DC) | Benigno Zaccagnini | 262 | 0 | 14.046.290 | 38.3% | -0.4 | |
| Italian Communist Party (PCI) | — | 201 | -26 | 11.139.231 | 30.4% | — | |
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI) | — | 62 | +5 | 3.596.802 | 9.8% | — | |
| Italian Social Movement (MSI) | Giorgio Almirante | 30 | -5 | 1.930.639 | 5.3% | -0.8 | |
| Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) | Pietro Longo | 20 | +5 | 1.407.535 | 3.8% | — | |
| Radical Party (PR) | Marco Pannella | 18 | +14 | 1.264.870 | 3.5% | — | |
| Italian Republican Party | — | 16 | +2 | 1.110.209 | 3.0% | — | |
| Italian Liberal Party (PLI) | — | 9 | +4 | 712.646 | 1.9% | — |
12 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.