Benedetto Cairoli Historical Left Benedetto Cairoli Historical Left General elections were held in Italy on 16 May 1880, with a second round of voting on 23 May.

The bloc of the Historical Right was led by Marco Minghetti, a conservative politician and former Prime Minister, from Bologna.

Also known as La Pentarchia (The Pentarchy), its main leader was Giuseppe Zanardelli, a jurisconsult from Brescia.

[2] Only 621,896 men of a total population of around 29 million were entitled to vote.

[3] Benedetto Cairoli was confirmed Prime Minister by the king Umberto I.