from the alliance with Berlusconi to the breakup and the accusation of corruption”

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Journalist, news director at Mediaset and loyal, for years, to Silvio Berlusconi of which he was also a sort of “dolphin”, Giovanni Toti he also held the position of coordinator of Forza Italia in 2019 (together with Mara Carfagna), before the sensational break with the former prime minister, the same year, when Berlusconi excluded him from the coordination of the party’s presidency. At that moment Toti leaves Forza Italia and, among other things, dedicates himself, from the seat of president of the Liguria Region, where he demonstrates that he has a large electoral consensus, to creating a political entity that can bring him back to the national spotlight.

The project, however, does not succeed, and We moderates (coalition party formed with Noi per l’Italia by Maurizio Lupi, UDC and Coraggio Italia, by the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro), obtains, in the 2022 elections, a result far below expectationsstanding at around 2% in both the House and the Senate.

Born in Viareggio in 1968, Toti grew up in Marina di Massa, in a family of hoteliers. Since 2001 he has lived in the municipality of Ameglia, in the province of La Spezia, where his parents and family also live.

A career at Mediaset

The career of the President of the Region, arrested for corruption today, 7 May 2024, began in 1996, when he signed his first contract for Mediaset; the following year he made his debut at Studio Aperto. In 2007 he became deputy head of Mediaset’s press office and, from that moment on, his rise was continuous. In 2009 he became co-director of Studio Aperto and the following year he became director, replacing Mario Giordano. In March 2012 he also became director of Tg4, succeeding Emilio Fede and maintaining, at the same time, the direction of Studio Aperto. He remained director of the two news programs until 2014, the year in which he entered politics full time.

Entry into politics

His entry into the political arena dates back to January 2014, when Berlusconi appointed him political advisor to Forza Italia, in view of the European elections of that year. He is therefore a candidate in the European elections as Forza Italia’s leader in the north-western Italian constituency, including Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. He is the first of the party’s elected representatives in the North-West.