Silvio Berlusconi swept back into power for a third term yesterday, defeating the Centre Left by a wider margin than expected. He immediately warned Italians of tough times ahead.

The media tycoon claimed victory after projections in the Italian general election gave him and his centre-right allies an unassailable lead in the Senate as well as in the Lower House. “I will govern for five years,” Mr Berlusconi told public television. “We have difficult months ahead that will require great strength.”

He added that solving the Naples rubbish crisis and securing the future of the state airline, Alitalia, were his top priorities.

Official projections gave Mr Berlusconi and the Centre Right 45.5 per cent, or 340 seats, in the Lower House, with 38.8 per cent for Mr Veltroni and the Centre Left, translating into 241 seats.

In the Senate Mr Berlusconi’s People of Liberty alliance was projected to have 46.4 per cent of the votes to 37.9 per cent for the Democratic Party, a fusion of liberals and former Communists, which if confirmed would give the Right 167 seats and the Left 137.

Walter Veltroni, leader of the Centre Left, conceded defeat, saying: “The Right will govern.” The result for the first time leaves the Italian Parliament sharply divided between the centre-right and centre-left, with several smaller parties excluded. The number of parties in the Lower House was expected to drop from 26 to only 6.

The last Government, a ten-party, centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi, had a one-seat Senate majority and survived for only 20 months. Mr Prodi is bowing out of politics and has handed the leadership of the Centre Left to Mr Veltroni.

Mr Berlusconi and Mr Veltroni both vowed to cut taxes, reduce Italy’s huge public debt and liberalise the public sector. A lacklustre campaign was enlivened only towards the end by Mr Berlusconi’s extravagant remarks and promises. Most Italians, weary of squabbling, self-serving politicians and chronic political instability, turned out to vote with little enthusiasm. Italians doubt whether the next government — the 62nd since the Second World War — will be able to reverse economic decline, stimulate investment, introduce deregulation and stem price rises for pasta and bread.

Symptoms of decline include the rubbish crisis in Naples and the associated health scare over tainted buffalo mozzarella, as well as the faltering sale of Alitalia. A recent survey indicated that 51.4 per cent of Italians “feel worse off” today compared with 36 per cent a year ago.

Mr Berlusconi, mocked by the Left for his efforts to disguise his height, age and receding hairline, has been implicated in a string of corruption investigations. He ran up a budget deficit equal to 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product during his last period in office.

That made his victory all the more remarkable. At 71 he was written off by his critics as too old, too prone to gaffes, too wedded to vested interests and too dogged by corruption allegations to be chosen by the voters.

Many will have been persuaded by the points that Mr Berlusconi hammered away at in the campaign — that Mr Veltroni was a former Communist, that when he was Mayor of Rome he failed to tackle illegal immigration and urban decay, but above all that he was associated with the Government of Mr Prodi.

It was a vintage hustings performance by Mr Berlusconi, who began as a cruise ship entertainer, made a fortune in property development in Milan and then in television before entering politics in 1994 to revive the Centre Right after the collapse of Christian Democracy and to “save the country from the Communists”.

The next stage, it is rumoured, is for him to stand for election as head of state.

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