Antonio Tajani | Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images | JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images) Conservatives take a risk with Tajani Italian MEP will face off against the Socialists’ pick, Gianni Pittella, in January ballot.

STRASBOURG — Antonio Tajani, a former spokesperson for Silvio Berlusconi, was elected as the European People’s Party candidate for the upcoming presidency of the European Parliament Tuesday evening, setting the stage for what could be a bitter fight for the institution's most high-profile job.

He won 94 votes in the first of three possible rounds, after which the other candidates withdrew. Ireland's Mairead McGuinness won 57 votes, with France's Alain Lamassoure winning 38 and Slovenia's Alojz Peterle on 18.

Lamassoure told his fellow lawmakers to give their support to Tajani.

“Tajani is a real figure in the EPP,” said Andreas Schwab, a German MEP. “He is extremely loyal and won because of the fact that all MEPs know him personally.”

Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP, said in a statement released after the vote that Tajani would be a “bridge-builder” between the political forces “inside our house and a strong voice outside.”

But some observers questioned whether the controversial candidate would indeed be able to build bridges, given that many will look askance at a Berlusconi ally. And while Tajani had the backing of the south, MEPs from northern, eastern and central Europe were more divided.

"If they had been smart, they’d have gone for McGuinness,” a Socialist MEP said. “She would have been harder to fend off for us.”

It was the first time in the Parliament’s history that the largest party in the assembly held a primary to choose its presidential candidate.

A former Italian air force officer and journalist for public broadcaster RAI and newspaper Il Giornale, Tajani promised "a change of pace" if he won the presidency. Four-times elected an MEP, the 63-year-old led Berlusconi's Forza Italia delegation to the European Parliament from 1999 to 2008 and then served as commissioner for transport and for industry and entrepreneurship.

“We need a pragmatic and forward-looking Parliament,” Tajani said on presenting his candidacy, promising to perform the job as “speaker of the house” if he wins.

However, Tajani could suffer from divided loyalties among Italian MEPs because the Socialist candidate for the presidency is Gianni Pittella.

Tajani's appeal across the house is limited by his association with Berlusconi and his role as transport commissioner overseeing emissions legislation that was not robust enough to prevent the Dieselgate scandal.

The contest, triggered by the departure of Martin Schulz of the Socialists & Democrats, will pitch Tajani against Pittella, who promised to scrap a "grand coalition" with the EPP that enabled European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Schulz to push through crucial EU legislation. The EPP wants the S&D to honor a 2014 power-sharing deal for the EPP to take over the presidency in 2017.

The other groups' candidates include Belgian MEP Helga Stevens from the European Conservatives and Reformists and Eleonora Forenza, an Italian MEP from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left.

On Tuesday, several sources in Parliament said Tajani had gained a lot of support from southern European states, including Spain and Portugal.

“The Spaniards always considered Tajani as their commissioner,” a Parliament official said. “He helped them a lot, speaks Spanish and has even a street with his name in the city of Giron.”

Another Parliament official said Tajani “never interrupted his relationship with the Parliament when he was a commissioner and would hold a meeting with MEPs every week.”

However, Tajani’s victory infuriated some in the Parliament, who saw it as a trick from the strong Italian group in the EPP.

“This is crazy!” said one official, “after his involvement in Dieselgate, we are electing a man who’s tied to Berlusconi.”

Support from other groups isn't a given, either. An ECR official said his group, the other main conservative alliance, would vote for Stevens in the first round. It is unlikely, the official said, that the group would vote for an EPP candidate in the second round.

Several Parliament sources said Guy Verhofstadt, the outspoken leader of the ALDE group, hasn't yet decided on an election strategy for his group. But some say he might declare his candidacy for the elections late in the process.

Although the dominant groups of MEPs traditionally strike a leadership deal before the official election, such an agreement is unlikely to happen this time. At the last election, in 2014, Schulz secured a second term in one round with the support of 409 of the 612 MEPs who voted.

MEPs will elect a president by secret ballot on January 17.

Under parliamentary rules, to be elected president a candidate must win an absolute majority of the votes cast, which means 50 percent plus one. The Parliament is comprised of 751 members, so 376 votes are needed to win the presidency.

Currently, the EPP holds 216 seats, while the S&D has 189, the ECR has 74 and ALDE has 69. Smaller parties and non-affiliated MEPs make up the balance. Allegiances tend to break along party lines, but also nationally with Germany having 96 MEPs, followed by France with 74, and Italy and the U.K. with 73 each.

Several hours before Tuesday's election, there was no clear majority on any one candidate and “all the delegations were split,” said Philippe Juvin, a French MEP who voted for Lamassoure.

Tajani and McGuiness appeared to be the candidates with the highest cross-party and cross-delegation backing, even if that was limited. But several EPP sources said the German delegation hadn’t endorsed anyone by a clear majority on Tuesday. Instead, at their regular delegation meeting on Monday, one-third of German EPP MEPs voted for McGuiness and the other two-thirds for Tajani and Lamassoure.

“We have no common line and no voting recommendation,” said Ingeborg Grässle, a German MEP.