Urban-centred voters: The case of ‘L’Altra Europa con Tsipras’ in the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections in Italy

In the 2014 European Parliamentary (EP) elections in Italy, ‘L’Altra Europa con Tsipras’ received about 1,100,000 votes (4.03 per cent), electing three MEPs. Its narrow surmounting of the 4 per cent 10 threshold was the result of an uneven distribution of support, with most of the votes concentrated in the biggest cities. In Rome, the Lista Tsipras (TL) got 6.17 per cent; in Milan, 6.48 per cen t and in Bologna, 8.89 per cent. This article analyses the characteristics of the ‘urban-centred’ vote for the LT. It then identifies the factors that contributed to this result, showing, in light of the electoral history of the Italian radical left, how LT ’ media coverage and the campaign schedules of its candidates help account for its success in urban areas.