[12][13] He was also known by the press as "Mr. Scissors," due to his frequent habit of cutting public spending, while serving as an official in the IMF.

[17] In an interview released shortly before the term of the office, he spoke of the faced difficulties relating to the political and the bureaucratic system.

[19] The March 2018 election resulted in a hung parliament, with no coalitions able to form a majority of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.

[22][23][24] However, on 27 May 2018, Conte renounced the office due to contrasts between the League's leader Matteo Salvini and President Sergio Mattarella.

[25] In his speech after Conte's resignation, Mattarella declared that the two parties wanted to bring Italy out of the Eurozone, and as the guarantor of Italian Constitution and country's interest and stability he could not allow this.

According to the Italian media, he was facing difficulties due to the unwillingness of several potential candidates to serve as ministers in his cabinet and may even renounce.

[32][33] Meanwhile, Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio announced their willingness to restart the negotiations to form a political government, and Giorgia Meloni, leader of FdI, gave her support to the initiative.

[35] In 2022, Cottarelli was candidate of the centre-left coalition to the Senate of the Republic, being elected in the multi-member district of Lombardy for the Democratic Party (PD).