Like Cameron, Italian Prime Minister steps down after ‘crushing’ referendum

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy announced his resignation on Monday, accepting full responsibility for the “extraordinarily clear defeat” of his package of constitutional reforms in Sunday’s referendum.

David Cameron, the immediate past British Prime Minister, took the same step after majority voted to exit the European Union (EU) in June.

In the Italian referendum, the “No” campaign led with almost 60 per cent of the vote to slightly over 40 per cent for “Yes”, on course to achieve the upper estimate predicted by exit polls.

The margin of the rejection– close to 20 percentage points – was much wider than expected. On a high turnout of 65.47%, 59.11% of voters chose no; 40.89% went for yes. Overseas voters bucked the trend, voting overwhelmingly (64.7%) for yes.

Renzi had conflated his centrist leadership with a “Yes” vote and promised to step down if he lost.

He called a news conference in Rome, capital of the country, as the result became clear.

Addressing the nation at the Palazzo Chigi, Renzi declared that his “experience of government finishes here”.

“We tried, we gave Italians a chance to change but we didn’t make it,” he said. “We wanted to win not to take part in the competition.

“I lost. I can admit it and I am sorry. I was not able to lead you to the victory. Good luck to us all.”

Financial markets reacted immediately to the referendum result, as the euro fell sharply in value against the dollar.

The vote prompted the euro to initially fall to a 20-month low against the dollar and then bounce back to its highest level since mid-November. But shares in Italian banks have tumbled.

Shares in the world’s oldest bank – Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena – fell sharply. Concerns about MPS were raised during the stress tests on the sector by the European Banking Authority in July.