Italy centre-left leads in latest opinion poll

Italy's centre-left Democratic Party holds a steady lead, ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's deeply divided People of Freedom party, an opinion poll released on Friday showed. The most recent entrant, the centrist Italia Futura movement, scored just under 5 percent, according to the survey by pollsters SWG. The movement, headed by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, chairman of sports-car maker Ferrari, backs the agenda of Prime Minister Mario Monti. Italy is to hold a parliamentary election early next year, probably in March, to pick a government and new leader to take over from Monti, who came to power a year ago when Berlusconi stepped aside at the height of the financial crisis. The undecided portion of the electorate remains high at 27 percent, while 16 percent do not plan to vote, SWG said.