.

Socialist Unity was formed by the Italian Socialist Workers' Party ' onMouseout='HidePop("56660")' href="/topics/Giuseppe_Saragat">Giuseppe Saragat

Giuseppe Saragat

Giuseppe Saragat was an Italian politician who was the fifth President of the Italian Republic from 1964 to 1971.Saragat was born in Turin, from Sardinian parents....

 and the Union of Socialists of former socialist leader Ivan Matteo Lombardo. The party's anti-communist ideology precluded any collaboration with the communist-led Popular Democratic Front in the 1948 election.

Socialist Unity reached 7% of the vote for the Italian Chamber of Deputies

Italian Chamber of Deputies

The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

, gaining 33 seats. In the election for the Italian Senate

Italian Senate

The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

, where it ran together with the laicist Italian Republican Party

Italian Republican Party

The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

, the Unity won 8 seats.

In the following years, the links between the members of the Unity became closer and the Italian Democratic Socialist Party

Italian Democratic Socialist Party

The Italian Democratic Socialist Party is a minor social-democratic political party in Italy. Mimmo Magistro is the party leader. The PSDI, before the 1990s decline in votes and members, had been an important force in Italian politics, being the longest serving partner in government for Christian...

was born.