Earliest projection on the composition of the new Italian parliament following the election exit polls is for a hung parliament
Well, d'uh
Thanks very much indeed to RAI TV for seat projections:
- Centre-right bloc to get 225/226 seats in the lower house
- 5 star to get 195/235 seats
- Centre left projected 115-155
(FFS .... how do you like those spreads??? ... and a reminder .... this is all based on exit polling, which has been shockingly bad in the not too distant past)
316 seats are needed for a majority in the lower house
Key takeaways =
- Centre right didn't do quite as well as expected, 5 Star did a wee but better than expected
- There is no majority viable that can be built through simple arithmetic - this is going to be a drawn out process (to form government)
- "populist' parties (anti-euro most of 'em) got around 50% of the vote .... ps. there is no way this disparate lot can come together at this stage and get Italy out of the euro, K?
- Opinion pollsters the big winners - tipped a hung parliament .... hence this is not a surprising result
EUR update (high was circa 1.2365):
And, a ps - this all based on EXIT POLLS only at this stage.
