[30] Conte was the fifth prime minister appointed without prior political experience, after Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Silvio Berlusconi, Lamberto Dini, and Mario Monti, as well as the first from Southern Italy since Ciriaco De Mita in 1989.

[58] In February 2018, Conte was suggested by Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S), as a possible Minister of the Public Administration in his potential cabinet following the 2018 Italian general election;[59] the election resulted in a hung parliament,[60] as M5S became the party with the largest number of votes and of parliamentary seats, while the centre-right coalition, led by Matteo Salvini's League and other right-wing parties, emerged with a plurality of seats, receiving more votes together but without an absolute majority, in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate.

[75] 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 the Italian Constitution and the country's interest and stability, he could not allow this.

[81][82] Meanwhile, Salvini and Di Maio announced their willingness to restart the negotiations to form a political government and Giorgia Meloni, leader of FdI, gave her support to this initiative.

He also advocated a fight against political corruption, the introduction of a law which regulates the conflict of interests, a new bill which expands the right of self-defense, a reduction in taxes and a drastic cut in money going to elected politicians and government bureaucrats.

[106] Many political analysts believe the no-confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve the Lega's standing in Parliament, to enable Salvini to become the next prime minister.

[116] On 16 September, a few days from the investiture vote, in an interview with la Repubblica, former prime minister Matteo Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, launching a new centrist and liberal party named Italia Viva (IV).

[124] Renzi called for radical changes to the government's economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic, and also demanded that Conte cede his mandate over the secret services coordination task.

[127] Conte was soon backed by many members of his cabinet, like Dario Franceschini, Luigi Di Maio, Roberto Speranza, Stefano Patuanelli, Alfonso Bonafede, Vincenzo Spadafora and Riccardo Fraccaro.

[140] However, on 2 February, Italia Viva broke away from the majority due to disagreements on both platform and cabinet members, leading Fico to head back to Mattarella with a negative outcome.

[144] On 4 February, during a brief declaration in front of Chigi Palace, Conte officially endorsed Draghi, asking M5S, PD and LeU to support the former ECB President and join his government.

[158] In September 2019, at the head of his second government, Conte launched a "Green New Deal", named after the analogous US proposed legislation that aimed to address climate change and economic inequality.

[162] In April 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Conte became the most vocal supporter of issuing Eurobonds to assist with the crisis,[163] describing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) as "completely inadequate".

[164] Conte found key allies in France, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Luxembourg, which demanded more be done to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic;[165] while Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Estonia strongly opposed the eurobonds.

[177] The government invited prominent international politicians including Paolo Gentiloni, David Sassoli and Ursula von der Leyen, economists such as Christine Lagarde, Ignazio Visco, Kristalina Georgieva, Olivier Jean Blanchard, Esther Duflo and Tito Boeri, and top managers like Vittorio Colao.

[188][189][190] On 24 September 2018, the Council of Ministers approved the "Salvini decree", which contained a series of hardline measures that saw the Italian government abolish key forms of protection for migrants and make it easier for them to be deported.

[194][195][196] On 8 April 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government closed all Italian ports until 31 July, stating that they could not ensure the necessary requirements for the classification and definition of "safe place", established by the Hamburg Rules on maritime search and rescue.

[210] On 13 July, Conte stepped in to halt any possible prorogation of the license to ASPI, commenting that the company's proposal "was totally unacceptable",[211] and he added: "The members of the Benetton family have not yet understood that this government will not sacrifice the good of the public on the altar of their interests.

[233] On the following day, he announced in a press conference that all measures previously applied only in the so-called "red zones" had been extended to the whole country, putting de facto 60 million people in lockdown.

[252] On the same day, he appointed a task force to relaunch Italy after the crisis; the team was led by Vittorio Colao and composed by a total of nineteen members, chosen among university professors, managers and public administration officers, which notably included Mariana Mazzucato and Enrico Giovannini.

[262] On 16 August, after an increase in the daily number of new COVID-19 cases, the government closed all the discos and night clubs, and imposed to wear a mask outdoors in some areas considered at risk of crowding.

[266] On 18 October, Conte announced further restrictions, including limitations to the opening hours of bars and restaurants, as well as a suspension of amateur contact sports, local festivals and conferences.

[287] On 28 June, Conte participated in his first European Council meeting and blocked a joint EU trade and defense statement criticizing Trump's tariff policy.

[290] In 2019, Conte authorized the US Attorney General, William Barr, to discuss with the Italian intelligence services about a possible plot against President Trump amid the investigations on the Russian interferences in the 2016 presidential election.

[304] In November 2020, commenting on the relation with his Spanish counterpart, Conte stated: "With my friend Sánchez, we have reaffirmed the alliance between our countries, as well as a common view on the main European and international issues.

[307] In March 2019, Conte and the Chinese President Xi Jinping signed in Rome 29 economic and institutional agreements amounting to 2.5 billion euros, including a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative investments program.

During the crisis, Prime Minister Conte had a series of bilateral meetings in Rome both with Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj, the chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, who are considered two of the main contenders in the civil war.

[327] On 21 November, Conte gave a two-weeks ultimatum to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to cooperate with Italian authorities, stating: "We need answers on Regeni's murder.

[356] During his first cabinet, Conte has often been labeled as a neo-nationalist leader;[357] since September 2019, when he became the head of a centre-left coalition government, he slightly toned down his nationalist rhetoric,[358] while he continued to use various instances of the so-called banal nationalism.

This move was heavily criticised both by opposition and government allies, due to the ongoing tensions between Italy and Egypt, following the murder of Giulio Regeni, an Italian PhD student tortured to death in 2016.