The previous Chief Minister, José de Grimaldo, left office with him, and after some intermediaries had taken power, Ripperda was appointed to the office—which was also something of a shock as he was considered as an adventurer rather than a politician.
The decision by France to break the promised engagement between the French King Louis XV and the Spanish Infanta was taken as a grave insult to Spain, and a potential weakening of her power.
In response, Ripperda opened negotiations with Austria, a traditional enemy, to try to establish a new alliance, the end result of which was the Treaty of Vienna.
In this, Ripperda was under heavy influence from Elisabeth Farnese, the recently abdicated king's wife and mother of the spurned child.
Despite his support for Ripperda, the Chief Minister was very unpopular with ordinary Spaniards, and following a scandal concerning misappropriated money he was dismissed and forced to take refuge in the British Embassy,[2] bringing his brief spell in the post to an inglorious end.