The Five Star Movement is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. The party was established on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily described as populist of the syncretic kind, due to its long-time insistence that it had no place in the left–right political spectrum. The party has been a proponent of green politics and direct democracy, and, more recently, progressivism, social democracy and left-wing populism. In 2024 the party officially described itself as "independent progressive".