Matteo Lepore (; born 10 October 1980) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD). He has been serving as mayor of Bologna since 11 October 2021.[ Risultati elezioni Bologna 2021: Lepore sindaco al primo turno con il 61,9%, Il Resto del Carlino]
Early life
Lepore was born in Bologna in 1980 and grew up in the
Savena district. He attended the classical lyceum
Luigi Galvani and graduated in political science from the University of Bologna.
[ Matteo Lepore: chi è il vincitore delle primarie di Bologna 2021, Il Resto del Carlino] In 2007, he obtained a master's degree in international relations, after having carried out an internship in
Brussels at the
Co-operation with the European Institutions of the
Emilia-Romagna Region. In 2008 he obtained another master's degree in building and urban planning and in 2009 one in cooperation economics, both at the University of Bologna.
[ Giunta, identikit dei 10 neo Assessori: online i loro curricula, Bologna Today]
From 2008 to 2011, Lepore was responsible for the territorial development, innovation and internationalization area of Legacoop Bologna. In 2010, he was part of the organizing technical committee for the city of Bologna at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.[ Primarie: chi è (davvero) Matteo Lepore, candidato sindaco del centrosinistra, Bologna Today]
Political career
Lepore became a member of the Democrats of the Left (DS) in 1999, and in 2007, he was among the founders of the Democratic Party (PD). Following the 2011 municipal election with the victory of
Virginio Merola, Lepore was appointed municipal councilor for Institutional Affairs, Demographic Services, International Relations, Communication, Urban Marketing, Innovation and Work.
[ Lepore, il super-assessore quarantenne: basket, Ulisse, Radiohead e Calvino, storia di un timido predestinato, la Repubblica] Elected town councilor also in the 2016 election, he was then appointed councilor for Culture, Tourism, Heritage, Sport and Civic Imagination, becoming one of the closest advisor of Merola and widely considered his most probable successor as mayor.
[ Matteo Lepore, chi è il nuovo sindaco di Bologna, Il Resto del Carlino]
Mayor of Bologna
In 2021, Lepore announced his intention to run as mayor of Bologna in the upcoming election.
[ Bologna: l’assessore alla cultura Matteo Lepore punta a diventare sindaco della città, Artribune] In June 2021, Lepore took part in the primary election of the center-left coalition to choose the candidate for mayor of Bologna, and defeated Isabella Conti, mayor of San Lazzaro di Savena, with 59.6% of votes against 40.6%.
[ Primarie Bologna 2021, risultati. Lepore vince: "Sarà una storia bellissima", Il Resto del Carlino] In the October 2021 municipal election, Lepore was elected mayor in the first round with 61.9% of votes, defeating the centre-right candidate Fabio Battistini with 29.6%, and becoming the most voted mayor of Bologna since the introduction of the direct elections in 1995.
[ Elezioni 2021: Lepore vince a Bologna con una percentuale travolgente, ANSA]
See also
-
List of mayors of Bologna
-
List of Democratic Party of Italy politicians
