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| Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after crushing 20-point defeat in constitutional referendum | Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after crushing 20-point defeat in constitutional referendum |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has announced his resignation and said he takes "full responsibility" for the "extraordinarily clear defeat" in the constitutional referendum. | Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has announced his resignation and said he takes "full responsibility" for the "extraordinarily clear defeat" in the constitutional referendum. |
| Early results showed the No vote on 59 per cent and on course to achieve the sizeable victory predicted by exit polls. | Early results showed the No vote on 59 per cent and on course to achieve the sizeable victory predicted by exit polls. |
| Mr Renzi had conflated his centrist leadership with a "Yes" vote and promised to step down if he lost. | Mr Renzi had conflated his centrist leadership with a "Yes" vote and promised to step down if he lost. |
| Addressing the nation at a press conference from the Palazzo Chigi on Sunday night, Mr Renzi said "my experience of government finishes here". | |
| “I have lost and I say it out loud,” Mr Renzi said, adding he would visit President Sergio Mattarella on Monday to formally hand in his resignation following a final meeting of his cabinet. | |
| "Good luck to us all," he concluded. | |
| Mr Mattarella will then be tasked with brokering the appointment of a new government or, if he is unable do that, ordering early elections. | |
| Most political analysts see the most likely scenario being that Renzi's administration will be replaced by a caretaker one dominated by his Democratic Party, which will carry on until an election due to take place by the spring of 2018. | |
| The turnout at the polls was remarkably high on Sunday, with the Interior Ministry's website putting it at 68.33 per cent, indicating the final turn out could be more than 70 per cent. | |
| Populists the Five Star Movement, led by comedian and Donald Trump admirer Beppe Grillo, claimed the No position, portraying it as something of a protest vote against Mr Renzi's status quo. | Populists the Five Star Movement, led by comedian and Donald Trump admirer Beppe Grillo, claimed the No position, portraying it as something of a protest vote against Mr Renzi's status quo. |
| Mr Renzi, who came to power two years ago aged just 39, aimed to streamline Italy’s political system so he can push through a major economic reform package. He wanted to reduce the number of senators and limit the senate’s power relative to the lower house of parliament. | Mr Renzi, who came to power two years ago aged just 39, aimed to streamline Italy’s political system so he can push through a major economic reform package. He wanted to reduce the number of senators and limit the senate’s power relative to the lower house of parliament. |
| He also wanted to reduce the political power of Italy’s regions. | He also wanted to reduce the political power of Italy’s regions. |
| Few dispute that economic reforms are necessary: the Italian economy has essentially gone nowhere for 16 years and unemployment is high at 11.5 per cent. With the exception of Greece, Italy has had the worst performance of any eurozone country since the 2008 financial crisis. | |
| But any political reforms in Italy that have the effect of concentrating political power have, by law, to be put to a popular referendum. This is a legacy of the country’s painful history of a fascist takeover by Mussolini in the wake of the First World War. |