Social Right was the main national

National conservatism

National conservatism is a political term used primarily in Europe to describe a variant of conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism as well as upholding cultural and ethnic identity, while not being outspokenly nationalist or supporting a far-right...

 and social-conservative

Social conservatism

Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

 faction within National Alliance

National Alliance (Italy)

National Alliance was a conservative political party in Italy.Gianfranco Fini was the leader of the party since its foundation in 1995, however he stepped down in 2008 after being elected to the nominally non-partisan post of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was succeeded by...

, a political party in Italy.

The faction had two main leaders: Francesco Storace

Francesco Storace

Francesco Storace is an Italian politician.He began his career at the right-wing newspaper Il Secolo d'Italia, until entering the ranks of the Italian Social Movement and later of National Alliance . He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1994...

 and Gianni Alemanno. Although the first had once been one of the closest aides to Gianfranco Fini

Gianfranco Fini

Gianfranco Fini is an Italian politician, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, leader of the center-right Future and Freedom party, and the former leader of the conservative National Alliance and the post-fascist Italian Social Movement...

, the faction soon became the most vocally critic of his leadership and his departures from the tradition of the post-fascist

Italian Fascism

Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

 Italian Social Movement

Italian Social Movement

The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...

. Its positions ranged from a strong social conservatism to a sort of economic left-wing populism, favouring big government

Big government

Big government is a term generally used by political conservatives, laissez-faire advocates, or libertarians to describe a government or public sector which they consider to be excessively large, corrupt and inefficient, or inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy or the private...

 rather than free market

Free market

A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

.

In the 2002 party congress Social Right had more than 30% of the delegates. In that occasion Storace was particularly critical of Fini.

In 2006 Storace broke with Alemanno as the latter chose to support Fini and his proposal to merge the party with Forza Italia

Forza Italia

Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

 and, thus, enter the European People's Party

European People's Party

The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

. Storace accused Fini of being a Christian democrat and formed D-Destra, a new faction, while Alemanno launched New Italy

New Italy (faction)

New Italy is a national and social-conservative think tank which acts as a faction within The People of Freedom , a political party in Italy...

.

Since Storace's departure in 2007 to form The Right

The Right

The Right is a national-conservative political party in Italy.-Foundation:On 3 July 2007 Storace announced his resignation from National Alliance in a letter posted on his website, claiming that it had become too centrist and moderate and in protest against the lack of internal democracy in the...

, which caused the definitive separation from Alemanno, and National Alliance's merger into The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

 in 2009, most members of the faction conclusively distanced from Fini. Their leader Alemanno coalesced with party Christian democrats on many issues and became very close to Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

. Alemanno's New Italy

New Italy (faction)

New Italy is a national and social-conservative think tank which acts as a faction within The People of Freedom , a political party in Italy...

is now active within the new party.