Benedetto Della Vedova
Benedetto Della Vedova (Sondrio, 3 April 1962) is an Italian politician.
He is a long-time Radical, who has been member of the European Parliament for the Bonino List (1999–2004), candidate for President of Lombardy (2000), president of the Italian Radicals (2001–2003), founder and president of the Liberal Reformers (2005–2009), member of the Chamber of Deputies for Forza Italia (2006–2008), The People of Freedom (2008–2011) and Future and Freedom (2011–2013), member of the Senate for Civic Choice (2013–2015) and in the Mixed Group (2015–present), and undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Renzi Cabinet (2014–2016).
Della Vedova, who has more recently been president of Libertiamo and, since 2017, of Forza Europa (a trans-party pro-Europeanist association), has been undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also in Gentiloni Cabinet (2016–present).
Biography
Della Vedova's political experience began in 1994 with the Radicals of Marco Pannella, of whose list (the Pannella List) he had been secretary. He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and served as MEP until 2004, when he was the first of the non-elected.
From 2001 to 2003 Della Vedova was president of the Italian Radicals. In 2003 he was the strongest challenger to Daniele Capezzone for the leadership of the party, on a platform based on free-market economic liberalism and the hidden proposal of joining Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedom's coalition. In 2005 he launched the Liberal Reformers (with Marco Taradash and Peppino Calderisi), after the Radicals had decided to support Romano Prodi and his centre-left coalition The Union.
In the 2006 general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the list of Forza Italia. Re-elected to the Chamber in the 2008 general election, he later distanced from Berlusconi and the centre-right, thus succesively joining Future and Freedom, Civic Choice and finally centre-left governments led by Democrats.