“I will make Florence great again. Melons? Better than the Tories”

The ‘law and order’ candidate explains the genesis of his candidacy to the conservative newspaper

FLORENCE – After Spiegel, the Times. The candidacy for mayor of Florence of the former director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt it also captures the attention of one of the bibles of English conservative journalism. In a piece by Tom Kington, in this morning’s edition, the London newspaper recounts the art scholar’s rush to Palazzo Vecchio. And right from the title it is rather unequivocal: “Vote for me to make Florence great again”. The Times, which had an interview with the candidate in recent days, recounts the spark that arose between Schmidt and the leader of Fdi, Giorgia Meloni, two years ago during a visit to the Uffizi before the political elections. The current Prime Minister spent an entire afternoon at the museum: “She was really prepared – explains Schmidt – I saw that she had a sincere passion for the study of medieval theology, I didn’t expect it.” But the real biographical and political turning point came last September, when the minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, after an initial crusade against too many foreign directors appointed at the head of cultural institutions he promised Schmidt the government’s support to his possible candidacy for mayor. An option that has materialized in recent days.

The former director, born in Freiburg but who became a full-fledged Italian citizen last year, entered the arena and presented his political manifesto which the Times defines as “law and order” style, but also oriented towards contain the invasion of Airbnbs in the historic center. AND after all, it is Schmidt himself who plays with the cultural affinity with the conservative right, revealing that it was the Florentines themselves who convinced him to try: “One person offered me a coffee and told me Make Florence magnificent again”. ‘Magnificent Florence’ then became, in fact, the campaign’s claim. The Times, however, in its story also tries to tease Schmidt about possible raw nerves: Meloni’s post-fascist origins and the hypothesis that in reality it may have been put on track in a city that is electorally difficult for the right, such as Florence was also confirmed in the last elections, because it is easy to unload in the case of a negative response to the municipal elections. “The program and actions demonstrate what Meloni is the equivalent of any conservative party we have in Europe and England, and it’s in much better shape than the Tories.”, Schmidt retorts with a joke that will make many supporters of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ears ring. As for the Times’s second thoughts, the civic candidate doesn’t seem to care because, he says, “I’m on a mission to save this city.”

FLORENCE, SCHMIDT: LEFT DIVIDED, WE MUST FLY HIGH

“I entered this office for the first time, the important thing is collaboration just as we have three parties with their different identities, allies in any case, so the civic list can bring something to the table that the parties cannot and vice versa. The parties are much more organized in the long term, the civic list obviously is not. Everyone has their own strengths and thanks to collaboration we are a very, very strong alliance, looking in particular at the competition where there are splits within the parties”. This is what the centre-right mayoral candidate in Florence, Eike Schmidt, told journalists as she left the city headquarters of Fratelli d’Italia, where she participated in the presentation of the first 20 candidates in the city council of the party led by Giorgia Meloni. “This also makes us understand a lot about the different approach between those who want to achieve an objective for Florence – adds Schmidt – and those who think about individual currents, individual characters”. Schmidt specifies that as a civic candidate it is not his responsibility to present the party candidates, even if during the meeting with the journalists he joins in the applause which underlines the speeches of Giovanni Donzelli and Paolo Marcheschi, the key representatives of the party at the regional. And speaking right inside the venue he adds: “Together we can and must do great things. If we don’t do them, the risk is that this decline will continue, which is creating so many problems that are getting worse day after day.”

FLORENCE, SCHMIDT: RENZI? I DON’T FEEL ANY LEADER, I’M CIVIC

The former director of the Uffizi and current candidate for mayor of the centre-right in Florence, Eike Schmidt, is hesitant about possible contacts with the leader of Italia viva, Matteo Renzi. Asked by journalists, on the sidelines of an Fdi press conference for the municipal elections, to those who remember the background to an invitation from Renzi a few weeks ago, in his capacity as newspaper editor at the time, to the party of the newspaper ‘Il Riformista’, Schmidt he limits himself to observing: “In reality 40 days ago I didn’t speak to Renzi, but I believe that some journalists spoke to Renzi and through some journalists an invitation was also sent to me, which never arrived directly. I haven’t been in touch with Renzi in this last period. He’s got a lot to do, I’ve got a lot to do. This is the explanation.” Are there still good relations, the reporters still ask? “At the moment I don’t feel with the big parties, I don’t have time – he replies – I have a civic and administrative electoral campaign to do and I don’t have time to talk with people at the top of the parties on various issues”.