Silvio Berlusconi has won a third term as Italian prime minister after his centre-left rival Walter Veltroni conceded defeat.
The 71-year-old self-made billionaire had earlier all but claimed victory after poll results showed his centre-right alliance won six seats more than the minimum needed for an absolute majority in the all-important Senate.
The flamboyant Mr Berlusconi and his ally Gianfranco Fini expressed deep satisfaction about the incoming results during a telephone conversation.
The media tycoon now returns to the prime minister's office for the third time since 1994, the year after he burst onto the political stage by creating the Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party.
The Piepoli polling institute had earlier tipped Mr Berlusconi's centre-right coalition to win 164 of the Senate's 315 seats, giving him an absolute majority in the chamber.
Victory in the Senate is essential to Italy's governability, and since seats are allotted on a regional basis the makeup of the upper house does not always reflect the national vote.
The upper house was the scene of outgoing centre-left Prime Minister Romano Prodi's downfall in January, when a small party with just three senators withdrew its support.
However, once his return to power is confirmed, Mr Berlusconi faces an economic downturn and a nation frustrated over political gridlock blamed on the electoral law that he himself crafted when coming to the end of his second premiership in 2005.
