Giuseppe Conte

Giuseppe Conte is the President of the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) and a former President of the Council of Ministers.

Political career

Giuseppe Conte was born in 1964 and built his career in law and academia before entering frontline politics. He studied law and became a professor of private law at the University of Florence, establishing himself as a civil-law scholar rather than a traditional party politician. For years, he was better known in legal circles than in public life, and his later political ascent was unusual in the Italian context because he had no long record of electoral office before becoming prime minister.

Conte emerged onto the national political stage in 2018, when the Movimento 5 Stelle and the League (Lega) formed a coalition after the general election. Although he was not the leader of either party, he was chosen as a compromise premier, presented as a technically competent and independent figure capable of bridging two populist forces. He became President of the Council of Ministers on 1 June 2018, heading the first Conte government in coalition with the League.

His first premiership lasted until September 2019, when the League withdrew support. Conte then negotiated a new majority, this time between the M5S and the centre-left Democratic Party (Partito Democratico), and returned as prime minister on 5 September 2019. His second government was shaped decisively by the COVID-19 pandemic, which placed him at the centre of emergency decision-making and made him one of the most visible figures in Italian politics. He remained in office until 13 February 2021, when the coalition collapsed amid tensions over the management of recovery funds and relations with former prime minister Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva.

After leaving Palazzo Chigi, Conte transformed from independent premier into a full political leader and was elected President of the M5S in 2021, a role he continues to hold. Under his leadership, the movement shifted away from its original anti-establishment identity and towards a more structured, socially interventionist, and explicitly opposition-oriented profile.

Relationship with the public

Conte has generally cultivated an image of calmness, institutional seriousness and personal restraint, which differentiated him from more combative Italian leaders. His communication style is measured, legalistic and often emphatic about constitutional duty, which helped him appear reassuring during periods of institutional instability. This was especially evident during the pandemic, when daily or near-daily public briefings made him a familiar face to large parts of the electorate.

He has enjoyed periods of substantial popularity, particularly during the early phases of the COVID-19 crisis, when many voters associated him with stability and protection. At the same time, his relationship with public opinion has been volatile, because his visibility was tied to crisis management and coalition politics rather than to a long-standing personal electorate. He is often perceived as approachable and less polarising than many Italian leaders, but critics have also described him as ambiguous or adaptable, arguing that he has been able to embody different political messages depending on context.

His standing within the media has followed a similar pattern. During his premiership he was sometimes portrayed as an “avvocato del popolo” — a lawyer of the people — a label that conveyed both his legal background and his populist appeal. Supportive outlets often emphasised his institutional tone and communication skills, while sceptical commentators highlighted the fact that he rose through coalition compromise and lacked a traditional political base.

Positions and political profile

Conte’s political profile is rooted in institutional pragmatism, social protection and selective reformism. In government, he endorsed policies associated with both the M5S and its coalition partners, rather than a single coherent ideological platform. During his time as prime minister, his governments supported measures connected with income support, welfare expansion, anti-poverty policy and stronger state intervention in the economy. He also backed a more interventionist response during the pandemic, including restrictions and public-health measures that made his administration central to Italy’s emergency governance.

As leader of the M5S, Conte has tried to preserve the movement’s anti-elite language while softening its earlier protest-only identity. He has pushed it towards a more left-leaning social agenda, emphasising public services, redistribution, environmental transition and civilian oversight of government power. This has made him acceptable to sections of the centre-left electorate, but also created tensions with voters and activists who preferred the M5S’s original anti-system posture.

Inside the party, Conte is often seen as a stabilising but dominant figure: not a founder of the movement, yet someone who has given it a clearer organisational shape after years of internal volatility. Outside the party, perceptions remain mixed. Admirers view him as competent, composed and able to speak to voters tired of confrontation. Opponents argue that he is politically adaptable to the point of inconsistency and that his leadership has been built more on personal authority than on democratic party roots.

A key moment in his political identity was the way he handled the first Conte government’s collapse and then rebuilt himself as head of a new coalition in 2019. Another defining moment was the pandemic leadership of 2020, which turned him from a compromise prime minister into a national crisis manager. His transition into M5S president in 2021 also marked a turning point: from a lawyer-turned-premier to the formal leader of a party attempting to reinvent itself in the post-populist phase of Italian politics.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Giuseppe Conte? Giuseppe Conte is an Italian law professor and politician, born in 1964, who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 2018 to 2021 and is now the President of the Movimento 5 Stelle.

Which party does Giuseppe Conte lead? He leads the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S), a political movement that began as an anti-establishment force and has since evolved towards a more structured and socially interventionist profile under his leadership.

What was Giuseppe Conte’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic? As prime minister, Conte was the central figure in Italy’s national response to the pandemic, overseeing emergency restrictions, public-health measures and major state intervention during the crisis.

Was Giuseppe Conte ever an elected MP before becoming prime minister? He was not widely known as a career parliamentarian before becoming prime minister; his rise was unusual because he came to national leadership mainly from academia and legal work rather than from a long electoral career.

What is Giuseppe Conte’s political style? Conte is generally seen as measured, institutional and pragmatic, with a communication style that aims to appear calm and reassuring rather than confrontational.

Why is Giuseppe Conte important in Italian politics? He is important because he reshaped the M5S after leaving office, helped lead Italy through major coalition transitions, and became one of the most visible leaders of the pandemic era.