2023 Roman Senate election

The **2023 Roman Senate election** was held in Rome on Sunday 8 October 2023 to elect the 1,046 senators of the 5th Senate. The outgoing government was a coalition of the left-wing Factio Socialistica (FS, English: Socialist Party) and centre Lega, colloquially referred to as the Portugal coalition. The government was initially led by Lega chairman Lorenzo Calvonova however FS chairman Carlo Mele returned to the post of supreme senator and general secretary of the union following the 2020 Roman government crisis. Mele did not stand for re-election as he had previously declared to withdraw from politics after the end of the legislative period. The consul election and federal elections in Aquitania, Francia and Normannia were held on the same day.

Mele's successor as chair of the FS François Vierieux, who had already run as candidate in the 2017 election, wasn't nearly as popular as his beloved predecessor, so the socialists were expected to suffer another defeat by the Lega. The Lega on the other side was expected to profit heavily from the popularity of Sofia Rodrigues who was the first person on Europa. Contrary to previous opinion polls, both parties ultimately won vote share compared to their 2019 results. The Lega became the biggest party by winning 37%, achieving their best result since the Roman Revolution, while the FS finished 5 percentage points behind. Nevertheless, the socialists profited from the weakness of the opposition parties by increasing their vote share by 4%. Far behind, the neoliberal Factio Democratica Romana (FDR, English: Roman Democratic Party) placed third on just under 17% of votes, its worst result since the revolution, while the Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF, English: National Fascist Party) suffered hefty losses of 7 percentage points. The 5th Senate was completed by the secessionist Factio Libertas (FL, English: Liberty Party) and non-union parties senators which both scored 3% of the popular vote.

The Roman way of electing a new government differs greatly from most other countries due to Rome's sui generis system of government. After the election, the 5th Senate met in its constituent session on 23 October to elect a new Presidium of the Senate. The Presidium presides over the Senate and it doesn't constitute the government however its head, the Supreme Senator, usually serves as general secretary of the Union simultaneously. Unlike in other parliamentary systems, the senators depend on the mandates of their respective mandate areas, meaning that they have to vote for the public's preferred candidate. In the constituent session, Sofia Rodrigues was inaugurated Supreme Senator by freshly elected Consul Jordán Ortega. Presumably, she will be elected General Secretary by the High Senate in the upcoming 15th Roman Congress. In the first congress after the election, the new Supreme Senator has the precedence to invite parties to coalition negotiations and present a list of people's secretaries to the High Senate which elects the government in a plenum of Senate, Council and Committee. It is expected that the Lega will lead a renewed Portugal coalition as senior partner while the FS will be the junior partner.