Michela Vittoria Brambilla

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Michela Vittoria Brambilla (Calolziocorte, October 26, 1967 - ) is an Italian politician and businesswoman commonly described as a possible successor to Silvio Berlusconi for leadership of the Italian right. On May 12th 2008, she is nominated undersecretary (Tourism) in the 4th Berlusconi Government. On August 21st 2007 she set up the new Freedom People apparently with his blessing, the goal of which is to merge the right wing allies of Berlusconi.

Heir of a family of steel manufacturers going back four generations, Brambilla received a degree in philosophy from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. In 2006 she lost an election for the Chamber of Deputies, on the Forza Italia ticket. In 2007 she named herself president of the national association of the Circles of Freedom, the political organisation she created. The association has more than 6,000 clubs all around Italy.

Before entering politics she was a television journalist for Berlusconi's Mediaset group. She is the general executive manager of Trafilerie Brambilla spa, a steel manufacturing firm, and is president of two businesses with her father Vittorio: Sal Group spa and Sotra Coast International.

She rose quickly to national prominence in 2003 after having been named president of the under-40 entrepreneurs council at Confcommercio. On November 20, 2006 she founded the Freedom Circles organisation. She has worked very closely with Silvio Berlusconi, the president of the Forza Italia party. Some observers (such as the magazine Panorama), name her as a possible successor to Berlusconi, as leader of the party and of the Italian centre-right. Brambilla has publicly denied such rumours.

In June 2007, through the Freedom Circles organisation, Brambilla launched the satellite channel Freedom TV, featuring talks with experts, professionals and private citizens, often connected with her personal campaign against tax evasion.

She is frequently invited as a guest on television talk shows, where she often provokes heated arguments with her opponents on the centre-left.

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Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by
Title jointly held		 Deputy for Emilia-Romagna
2008 – present		 Succeeded by
Title jointly held
Political offices
Preceded by
Fabio Gobbo, Enrico Letta,
Ricardo Franco Levi, Enrico Micheli		 Undersecretary to the Prime Minister
2008 – present
Served alongside: Maurizio Balocchi, Paolo Bonaiuti,
Aldo Brancher, Carlo Giovanardi, Gianfranco Miccichè		 Incumbent