The faces of the M5s will change at the beginning of 2026. In mid-January, the mandate of the group leader in the Senate Stefano Patuanelli will expire. In all likelihood, in conjunction with the choice of the leadership of the Five Star team at Palazzo Madama, the president of the Movement Giuseppe Conte will propose the names of those who will support him at the top of the party for the next four years. The current organizational chart has in fact been “frozen” since October, when the members’ assembly confirmed the leadership of Conte, who now has the task of choosing the new team, primarily the vice presidents. The outgoing ones are: Paola Taverna who, with the role of vicar, is a step higher than the others, and the parliamentarians Michele Gubitosa, Riccardo Ricciardi and Mario Turco. The deputy and former mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino was also part of the deputies, but she resigned in October, in dissent with Conte’s line.
The leaders of the Movement do not provide any information on the changes, but some names are circulating in the corridors of Montecitorio and Palazzo Madama. For example, Taverna’s confirmation is taken for granted, while Ricciardi, a Conte loyalist, who in January became group leader in the Chamber, is considered to be leaving, replacing another true Conti supporter, Francesco Silvestri, now in pole position for a role as vice president: in practice, a rotation between the two would be completed. The ratings of parliamentarians Vittoria Baldino and Barbara Floridia and of MEP Pasquale Tridico, who was candidate for governor for the center-left in Calabria, are also growing. Without considering that, like Silvestri, the other outgoing group leader Patuanelli could also aspire to the role of vice president. The party statute does not establish how many there should be and gives Conte the task of indicating them: the members’ assembly will then give the final green light.
Another body to be renewed is the Guarantee Committee, which has the task of supervising “the correct application of the provisions of the Statute”. The members are not indicated by Conte, but by another body, the National Council, a sort of parliament of the Movement. The Guarantee Committee now includes Roberto Fico, new president of Campania, the former mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi, who has always been critical of Conte, and the former senator Laura Bottici. Same fate and same method of choice for the disciplinary body, the Board of Arbitrators, now made up of Floridia and the former ministers Fabiana Dadone and Danilo Toninelli. The latter has always supported Grillo in the harsh controversies with Conte. In the turnover of the Guarantee Committee and arbitrators, some Five Star exponents could find space as potential vice-presidents. In addition to theirs, the names of senator Ettore Licheri, deputy Alfonso Colucci, who is now treasurer of the M5s, and former Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede are circulating. The role of group leader in the Senate remains, which is not part of the organizational chart but comes into play in the risk: to replace Patuanelli there is talk of Alessandra Maiorino and Luca Pirondini.