The party was supported by the New Italy foundation, previously active within The People of Freedom (PdL) as Alemanno's factional think tank.
[1][2] Italy First was launched as a "political association" in October 2013 by Gianni Alemanno, a former mayor of Rome (2008–2013) for the PdL.
In December 2014 Alemanno, who was mired in a scandal related to his tenure as mayor of Rome, and, consequently, Italy First left FdI.
[12] In October 2015, during an assembly of the "National Alliance Foundation" (the association in charge of administering the assets of the defunct party), Alemanno and his supporters, who wanted to form a larger right-wing party (including FdI), lost a vote on the entitlement of AN's symbol over the representatives of FdI, supported by former AN heavyweights who had remained in the PdL.
[13][14] That "movement" is National Action (AN), which was formed on 9 November 2015 by a group of former AN members, who had joined forces with Alemanno during the Foundation's assembly.