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Speaking this afternoon, Mr Renzi hit out at "extremist" parties who he said his party would not be joining.

The ex-PM added PD would be in opposition in the next parliament.

Mr Renzi, who previously quit as PM after losing a referendum in 2016, said: ”It is obvious that I will leave the helm of the PD.

"The Italian people have asked us to be in opposition and that is where we will go. We will never form a government with anti-system forces.”

Despite overseeing a modest economic recovery, the ruling centre-left coalition trailed a distant third on 22 percent, hit by widespread anger over persistent poverty, high unemployment and an influx of more than 600,000 migrants over the past four years.

The resignation news was earlier revealed by sources within his party. His spokesman Marco Agnolotti denied knowledge of the leader's resignation when responding to the claims on Twitter.

However, at a press conference this afternoon Mr Renzi confirmed he was standing down.