"and that the centre-left, in Italy possibly even more than elsewhere, is seen as the party of the spoiled establishment"

As an American, I won't claim any real, in-depth knowledge of Italian politics. However, in the U.S., the center-left is the party of the spoiled establishment. Just look at who supported Hillary, and who threw a temper tantrum when she lost (other than her, that it). The upscale liberal establishment loved her. Of course, she got the racial identity politics vote. The rest of the American people were disgusted by her and voted from Trump.