Italy's centre-right wins in local vote in blow to Renzi

ROME - 26 June 2017: Italy's centre-right parties hammered their centre-left rivals in mayoral elections, official results showed on Monday, a win that is likely to put pressure on the ruling Democratic Party (PD) ahead of a national vote due in less than a year.

An alliance of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party and the anti-immigrant Northern League won 55 percent of the votes in the northern port city of Genoa, traditionally left-wing stronghold, where the right will govern for the first time in more than five decades.

PD leader Matteo Renzi, who has been seeking to make a comeback since stepping down as prime minister in December, was the clear loser in Sunday's vote, though polls show his party is still one of Italy's most popular nationally.

"It could have gone better," Renzi said in an early-morning Facebook post. "The overall result isn't great."