Rome gets first female mayor in 2,700 years<br /> 5 Star trounce Renzi’s Democratic Party<br /> <br /> <br /> Do they have their eye on the 2018 election?<br /> <br /> <br /> Rome’s Five Star female<br /> <br /><br /> The first female mayor in Rome’s 2700 year history has told Euronews that her two main <br />priorities are tackling debt and public spending.<br /> <br /> #UPDATE Rome elects populist Raggi as first female mayor: exit polls https://t.co/4WqoaX4EiZ— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 19, 2016<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> #Rome first female mayor virginiaraggi interview euronews on Wednesday 22:45 cet #m5s #ballottaggioRoma pic.twitter.com/4npC7uah6M— Simona Volta (@SimonaVolta) June 20, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Virginia Raggi from Italy’s populist Five Star Movement took the Italian capital with two thirds of the vote in a run-off on Sunday.<br /><br /> Turin also has a new, Five Star, female mayor – Chiara Appendino.<br /> <br /> An exclusive interview with Euronews<br /> <br /><br /> Raggi has given an exclusive interview to Euronews.<br /><br /> “We will begin by tackling excessive public spending,” she said. “After a two-and-a-half year Commission on spending, we think this amounts to 1,200 million euros a year. We have to claw back this wasted money and let people benefit from it.”<br /><br /> “There is the huge issue of renegotiating the city of Rome’s debt. This currently stands between 13 and 16 billion euros.”<br /><br /> “We have to carry out an audit, to understand exactly what has gone on and then renegotiate the interest rates.”<br /> <br /> The Five Star Movement<br /> <br /><br /> The anti-establishment Five-Star Movement trounced Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in local elections.<br /><br /> Five Star won in 19 of the towns where it had got through to the second round.<br /><br /> Its successes in Rome and Turin could provide a springboard for a bid for the national elections in 2018.<br /> <br /> Who is Virginia Raggi?<br /> <br /><br /> Raggi won Sunday’s runoff contest with two-thirds of the vote, beating Roberto Giachettil of Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party.<br /><br /> Raggi – a profile<br /><br /> <br /> 37 years old<br /> A lawyer<br /> Former local councillor<br /> <br /> <br /> Has become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics after a few months campaigning<br /> <br /><br /> Raggi said, “A new era is beginning with us. We will work to bring back legality and transparency to the city’s institutions.”<br /> <br /> Five Star in five<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> Feeds off popular anger over issues like graft<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> Aiming to establish itself as the main opposition to the governing coalition of Matteo Renzi.<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> Won 19 out of 20 towns where its candidates stood for mayor.<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> Female Five Star candidate Chiara Appendino named mayor in Turin<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> Success could provide a springboard for the movement to make a play in the 2018 general election.<br /> <br /> <br /> What about Matteo Renzi?<br /> <br /><br /> The centre-left Democratic Party of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was trounced in the weekend votes, although it held on to power in the key cities of Milan and Bologna.<br /> <br /> Five star movement's #Raggi takes #Rome in dramatic setback for pm #MatteoRenzi (file pic) pic.twitter.com/PU7bZZb6CP— JosephineMcKenna (@JosephineMcK) June 20, 2016<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> Euronews’ exclusive interview with Virginia Raggi will be broadcast this Wednesday.<br />
