Attilio Fontana

A long-time member of Lega Lombarda and Lega Nord (LN), he was Mayor of Induno Olona from 1995 to 1999.[1] Fontana, with LN, was elected in the 2000 regional election and 2005 regional election to the Regional Council of Lombardy, of which he functioned as President until July 2006.[2] He stepped down from that office after being elected Mayor of Varese with 57.8% of the vote in the first round of 28 May 2006.[3] He was re-elected in May 2011 with 53.8% of the vote in a run-off.[4] Fontana, ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits,[5] left the office in June 2016. In 2007 Fontana was the lawyer of Andrea Mascetti in the case against the left-wing journalist and television host Michele Santoro from who they won: with this court case Fontana obtained notoriety at national level.[6]

Some journalists in July 2016 speculated a nomination of Fontana as LN candidate in 2018 election for President of Lombardy if the incumbent Governor (President of Region) Roberto Maroni – who was elected in 2013 regional election for a five-year term with the support of Lega Lombarda and Lega Nord, the parties of Maroni and Fontana, and with the support of the others parties members of the 2013 center right coalition – will not run for a second consecutive (and final) term; in January 2018, when Maroni announced his retirement from politics, Fontana was selected as Centre-right (composed by FI, LN, FdI, EpL, NcI and his civic personal list named "Fontana List" composed by members of PP, RC, MNS and also by civic, independent and non-partisans members) candidate to the Presidency of Lombardy. For the media, his experience as Mayor and Salvini's popularity are among the strengths of his candidacy.

On 15 January 2018,[7] Fontana stated that the Western culture was in danger[7] due to the migration flows from Africa.[7] This created many protests as well as criticisms from the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the big tent anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). Because of the controversy he apologised for his remarks, declaring that it was a slip of the tongue and an expressive error, not due to inherent racism of him or his party.[8] Fontana's principal rivals were Giorgio Gori (PD) and Dario Violi (M5S). On 4 March 2018 Fontana won 50% against Gori (29%) and Violi (17%) in the regional election[9] and Fontana sworn in office as Governor on 26 March.

In May 2019 the Prosecutor Office of Milan started an investigation on Fontana due to abuse of power as President of Lombardy in a case of corruption,[10] but in March 2020 all the accusation falls and the case is definitively closed[11] as the appointment in question did not constitute a crime.[12]

In July 2020 another investigation started, following the activities of Fontana, his wife and his brother in law during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Some journalists in September 2020 speculated a retirement of Fontana from politics in 2023, similar to Maroni's retirement in 2018, or an early election due to the media hype due to the "Covid investigation", but Matteo Salvini (the Federal Secretary of Lega) prevented the resignment of Fontana from the Presidency of Lombardy and an early election.