The prime minister of Italy is the head of the Council of Ministers, which holds effective executive power in the Italian government. The first officeholder was Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who was sworn in on 23 March 1861 after the unification of Italy. Cavour previously served as prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, an office from which the Italian prime minister took most of its powers and duties. During the era of the monarchy of Italy under the House of Savoy, prime ministers were appointed by the King of Italy, as laid down in the Albertine Statute (1848). From 1925 until the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy in 1943, the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini formally modified the office title to "Head of Government, Prime Minister, Secretary of State". From 1861 to 1946, 30 men served as prime ministers, leading 67 governments in total.
After the abolition of the Kingdom of Italy in 1946 and the proclamation of the Italian Republic, the office was established by Articles 92 through 96 of the Constitution of Italy (1948). Alcide De Gasperi is the only prime minister who held this position both in the Kingdom of Italy and in the Italian Republic; he was in office for over seven consecutive years between 1945 and 1953, more than any other democratically-elected prime minister. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Italian Republic and must receive a confidence vote by both houses of the Italian Parliament: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. From 1946 to 2022, in the first 76 years after the creation of the Italian Republic, 30 men served as prime ministers. The incumbent officeholder is Giorgia Meloni, who was appointed on 22 October 2022, becoming the first woman to hold this office.
The longest-serving prime minister in the history of Italy was Mussolini, who ruled the country as Fascist Italy from 1922 until 1943; the longest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic was Silvio Berlusconi, who held the position for more than nine years between 1994 and 2011. The shortest-serving officeholder was Tommaso Tittoni, who served as prime minister for 16 days in 1905, while the shortest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic was Fernando Tambroni, who governed for 123 days in 1960.
Prime ministers of Italy Prime ministers of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
Parties:
Coalitions:
Symbols: Died in office
+ Portrait Name Term of office Party Government Composition Legislature Monarch Took office Left office Time in office Camillo Benso di Cavour 23 March1861 6 June1861 Historical Right Cavour IV TrasformismoRight VIII(1861) Victor Emmanuel II Bettino Ricasoli 12 June1861 3 March1862 Historical Right Ricasoli I Right Urbano Rattazzi 3 March1862 8 December1862 Historical Left Rattazzi I Right • Left Luigi Carlo Farini 8 December1862 24 March1863 Historical Right Farini Right Marco Minghetti 24 March1863 28 September1864 Historical Right Minghetti I Right Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora 28 September1864 31 December1865 MilitaryLa Marmora II Right 31 December1865 20 June1866 La Marmora III IX(1865) Bettino Ricasoli 20 June1866 10 April1867 Historical Right Ricasoli II National unity governmentRight • Left Urbano Rattazzi 10 April1867 27 October1867 Historical Left Rattazzi II Left X(1867) Luigi Federico Menabrea 27 October1867 5 January1868 Historical Right Menabrea I Right 5 January1868 13 May1869 Menabrea II 13 May1869 14 December1869 Menabrea III Giovanni Lanza 14 December1869 10 July1873 Historical Right Lanza Right XI(1870) Marco Minghetti 10 July1873 25 March1876 Historical Right Minghetti II Right XII(1874) Agostino Depretis 25 March1876 25 December1877 Historical Left Depretis I Left XIII(1876) 26 December1877 24 March1878 Depretis II Umberto I Benedetto Cairoli 24 March1878 19 December1878 Historical Left Cairoli I Left Agostino Depretis 19 December1878 14 July1879 Historical Left Depretis III Left Benedetto Cairoli 14 July1879 25 November1879 Historical Left Cairoli II Left 25 November1879 29 May1881 Cairoli III XIV(1880) Agostino Depretis 29 May1881 25 May1883 Historical Left Depretis IV TrasformismoLeft 25 May1883 30 March1884 Depretis V XV(1882) 30 March1884 29 June1885 Depretis VI 29 June1885 4 April1887 Depretis VII XVI(1886) 4 April1887 29 July1887 Depretis VIII Francesco Crispi 29 July1887 9 March1889 Historical Left Crispi ITrasformismoLeft 9 March1889 6 February1891 Crispi II XVII(1890) Antonio Starabba di Rudinì 6 February1891 15 May1892 Historical Right Di Rudinì I Right • Left Giovanni Giolitti 15 May1892 15 December1893 Historical Left Giolitti I TrasformismoLeft XVIII(1892) Francesco Crispi 15 December1893 14 June1894 Historical Left Crispi III TrasformismoLeft • Right 14 June1894 10 March1896 Crispi IV XIX(1895) Antonio Starabba di Rudinì 10 March1896 11 July1896 Historical Right Di Rudinì II Right • Left 11 July1896 14 December1897 Di Rudinì III 14 December1897 1 June1898 Di Rudinì IV XX(1897) 1 June1898 29 June1898 Di Rudinì V Luigi Pelloux 29 June1898 14 May1899 Military Pelloux I Left • Right 14 May1899 24 June1900 Pelloux II Right • Left Giuseppe Saracco 24 June1900 15 February1901 Historical Left Saracco Left • Right XXI(1900) Victor Emmanuel III Giuseppe Zanardelli 15 February1901 3 November1903 Historical Left Zanardelli Left • Right Giovanni Giolitti 3 November1903 12 March1905 Historical Left Giolitti II TrasformismoLeft • Right XXII(1904) Tommaso Tittoni 12 March1905 28 March1905 Historical Right Tittoni Left • Right Alessandro Fortis 28 March1905 24 December1905 Historical Left Fortis I Left • Right 24 December1905 8 February1906 Fortis II Sidney Sonnino 8 February1906 29 May1906 Historical Right Sonnino I Right • Left • PR Giovanni Giolitti 29 May1906 11 December1909 Historical Left Giolitti III TrasformismoLeft • Right Sidney Sonnino 11 December1909 31 March1910 Historical Right Sonnino II Right • Left XXIII(1909) Luigi Luzzatti 31 March1910 30 March1911 Historical Right Luzzatti Right • PR • Left Giovanni Giolitti 30 March1911 21 March1914 Liberal Party Giolitti IV PL • PR Antonio Salandra 21 March1914 5 November1914 Liberal Party Salandra I PL XXIV(1913) 5 November1914 18 June1916 Salandra II PL • PRI Paolo Boselli 18 June1916 30 October1917 Liberal Party Boselli National unity governmentPL • PSRI • PR • UECI Vittorio Emanuele Orlando 30 October1917 23 June1919 Liberal Party Orlando PL • PR • PSRI • UECI • Francesco Saverio Nitti 23 June1919 21 May1920 Italian Radical Party Nitti I PL • PLDI • PR • PSRI • PPI 21 May1920 15 June1920 Nitti II PL • PR • PLDI • PPI XXV(1919) Giovanni Giolitti 15 June1920 4 July1921 Liberal Party Giolitti V PL • PPI • PR • PLDI • PSRI • DS Ivanoe Bonomi 4 July1921 26 February1922 Italian Reformist Socialist Party Bonomi I PL • PPI • PSRI • PLDI • DS XXVI(1921) Luigi Facta 26 February1922 1 August1922 Liberal Party Facta I PL • PPI • PLDI • DS • PSRI • PA 1 August1922 31 October1922 Facta II PLI • PPI • PLDI • DS • PSRI Benito Mussolini 31 October1922 25 July1943 National Fascist Party Mussolini PNF • PPI • PLI • DS • ANI PNF XXVII(1924) XXVIII(1929) XXIX(1934) XXX(no election) Pietro Badoglio 25 July1943 24 April1944 Military Badoglio I Transitional governmentIndependents Parliament abolished 24 April1944 18 June1944 Badoglio II CLNPSIUP • PdA • PCI • PLI • DC • PDL Ivanoe Bonomi 18 June1944 12 December1944 Labour Democratic Party Bonomi II CLNPDL • DC • PdA • PSIUP • PCI • PLI • 12 December1944 21 June1945 Bonomi III CLNPDL • DC • PLI • PCI Ferruccio Parri 21 June1945 10 December1945 Action Party Parri CLNDC • PdA • PLI • PSIUP • PCI • PDL National Council Alcide De Gasperi 10 December1945 13 July1946 Christian Democracy De Gasperi I CLNDC • PSIUP • PdA • PLI • PDL • PCI Umberto II
Prime ministers of the Italian Republic (1946–present)
Parties:
Coalitions: