ITALY’S Democratic Party (PD) elected its first woman leader at the weekend, charged with re-energizing the centre-left party to counter a recent surge in popularity of the right.
Parliamentarian Elly Schlein, 37, defeated frontrunner Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia-Romagna region, by 53.8% to 46.2% yesterday, in an election that saw most left-leaning voters stay at home.