Five Star Movement flops in Italy's local polls Local elections across Italy have witnessed a collapse in support for the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, with the centre-left Democratic party led by Prime Minister Enrico Letta performing better than expected. After voting on Sunday and Monday, newspapers on Tuesday were full of headlines declaring the "flop" and "collapse" of Beppe Grillo's opposition movement, which stunned the established parties in February's general elections, taking a quarter of the vote and being only narrowly beaten by the Democrats as Italy's most voted-for party. The Five Star Movement failed to make the second round run-off, to be held in two weeks, in any of the 16 major towns and cities holding elections among more than 500 local councils. Commentators also noted a sharp decline in voter turnout, declaring that the real winner was the absentee vote, although direct comparisons were not simple as many localities last voted five years ago on the same day as national elections. The overall turnout was 62.3 per cent, high by European standards but still a continuation in the general decline in Italy's turnout in recent years. The Democrats - forced into an uneasy grand coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right People of Liberty after February's inconclusive parliamentary elections - took first place in all the 16 major towns and cities, demonstrating that the party's local leaders still have the organisation and capability to rally support despite the Democrats" fragmentation at a national level. In Rome, the centre-right's incumbent mayor, Gianni Alemanno, took 30.2 per cent of the vote, some 12 points behind the centre-left's Ignazio Marino. The Five Star Movement's candidate took only 12.4 per cent compared with the 27.2 per cent the movement recorded in the February elections. A disappointed Mr Alemanno, whose last campaign rally was sparsely attended despite the presence of Mr Berlusconi, reflected on Monday night that his poor showing had been due in part to his supporters" unhappiness with the grand coalition at the national level. Mr Grillo, the comic activist-turned politician who co-founded the Five Star Movement, had campaigned vigorously up and down Italy. The movement had been expected to perform well in the Tuscan city of Siena, battered by scandals surrounding the centre-left controlled bank Monte dei Paschi, but in the end its candidate for mayor took only 8.3 per cent. Grillo collapses, the right flounders and the Democrats save themselves. For Letta it is going well like this," commented Stefano Folli for Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy's main business daily. Winning consensus by spurring hatred towards the system, blaming it for inefficiency and corruption, can be very easy in a first phase. But it is a quick downhill path if one does not obtain tangible results," Mr Folli wrote of the defeat of the Five Star Movement. Many Five Star voters have turned their backs on Mr Grillo after his rejection of the overtures made by the centre-left following the February elections.