Deputy Prime Minister of Italy

Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic
Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic
Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei Ministri della Repubblica Italiana
	Incumbent; Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini ; since 22 October 2022
	Council of Ministers
Nominator	Prime Minister of Italy
Appointer	Council of Ministers
Inaugural holder	Palmiro Togliatti
Formation	April 24, 1944;80 years ago

Last updated November 27, 2024

The deputy prime minister of Italy, officially the vice-president of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic (Italian: Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana), is a senior member of the Italian Cabinet. Moreover, it is often colloquially known as Vicepremier.^[2]^[3] The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices to give seniority to a particular Cabinet minister. The office is currently held by Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani under Giorgia Meloni's premiership.

The office is not mentioned in the Constitution. Its role is defined by statutory provisions, most importantly article 8 of law no. 400 of 1998 (Italian: legge n. 400 del 1998). The Deputy Prime Minister assumes the powers of the Prime Minister if the latter becomes unable to discharge his or her duties. In case none was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, it is the eldest Minister who takes upon the role of the Prime Minister in such cases; meanwhile, if there are multiple Deputy Prime Ministers serving at the same time, it falls upon the eldest of them who does so. The Deputy Prime Minister does not automatically succeed the Prime Minister in case the latter resigns, as conventionally, in the aftermath of a resignation, the outgoing Prime Minister remains in place to handle day-to-day business until Parliament picks a successor.

In practice, the designation of someone to the role of Deputy Prime Minister may also provide additional practical status within cabinet, enabling the exercise of de facto , if not de jure , power. In a coalition government, as Enrico Letta Grand coalition government between the Democrats and The People of Freedom, the appointment of the secretary of the smaller party (in the 2014 case, Angelino Alfano, secretary of the PdL) as Deputy Prime Minister is done to give that person more authority within the cabinet to enforce the coalition's agreed-upon agenda.^[4]

List of deputy prime ministers

Kingdom of Italy

Parties

1944–1946:

Coalitions

1944–1946:
- National Liberation Committee

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Cabinet	Ref.
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party		Cabinet	Ref.
	Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964)	24 April 1944	18 June 1944	55 days		Italian Communist Party	Badoglio II
Office not in use		18 June 1944 – 12 December 1944					Bonomi II
	Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964)	12 December 1944	21 June 1945	1 year, 9 days		Italian Communist Party	Bonomi III
	Giulio Rodinò (1875–1946)	12 December 1944	21 June 1945	1 year, 9 days		Christian Democracy	Bonomi III
	Pietro Nenni (1891–1980)	21 June 1945	10 December 1945	172 days		Italian Socialist Party	Parri
	Manlio Brosio (1897–1980)	21 June 1945	10 December 1945	172 days		Italian Liberal Party	Parri
	Pietro Nenni (1891–1980)	10 December 1945	13 July 1946	262 days		Italian Socialist Party	De Gasperi I

Italian Republic

Parties

1946–1994:
1994–present:
- Lega Nord / League
- National Alliance
- Democratic Party of the Left
- Italian People's Party
- Union of Christian and Centre Democrats
- Forza Italia / The People of Freedom
- Democratic Party
- New Centre-Right
- Five Star Movement

Coalitions

1946–1994:
- Centrist coalition
- Organic centre-left
- Pentapartito / Quadripartito
- Mixed coalition
1994–present:
- Centre-right coalition
- Centre-left coalition
- Mixed coalition

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Cabinet	Ref.
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party		Cabinet	Ref.
	Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961)	31 May 1947	23 May 1948	358 days		Italian Liberal Party	De Gasperi IV
	Randolfo Pacciardi (1899–1991)					Italian Republican Party
	Giuseppe Saragat (1898–1988)					Italian Democratic Socialist Party
	Attilio Piccioni (1892–1976)	23 May 1948	27 January 1950	1 year, 249 days		Christian Democracy	De Gasperi V
	Giovanni Porzio (1873–1962)					Italian Liberal Party
	Giuseppe Saragat (1898–1988)					Italian Democratic Socialist Party
Office not in use		27 January 1950 – 26 July 1951					De Gasperi VI
	Attilio Piccioni (1892–1976)	26 July 1951	17 August 1953	2 years, 22 days		Christian Democracy	De Gasperi VII·VIII
Office not in use		17 August 1953 – 10 February 1954					Pella Fanfani I
	Giuseppe Saragat (1898–1988)	10 February 1954	19 May 1957	3 years, 98 days		Italian Democratic Socialist Party	Scelba Segni I
	Giuseppe Pella (1902–1981)	19 May 1957	1 July 1958	1 year, 43 days		Christian Democracy	Zoli
	Antonio Segni (1891–1972)	1 July 1958	16 February 1959	229 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani II
Office not in use		16 February 1959 – 26 July 1960					Segni II Tambroni
	Attilio Piccioni (1892–1976)	26 July 1960	4 December 1963	3 years, 131 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani III·IV Leone I
	Pietro Nenni (1891–1980)	4 December 1963	24 June 1968	4 years, 203 days		Italian Socialist Party	Moro I·II·III
Office not in use		24 June 1968 – 12 December 1968					Leone I
	Francesco De Martino (1907–2002)	12 December 1968	5 August 1969	236 days		Italian Socialist Party	Rumor I
	Paolo Emilio Taviani (1912–2001)	5 August 1969	27 March 1970	234 days		Christian Democracy	Rumor II
	Francesco De Martino (1907–2002)	27 March 1970	17 February 1972	1 year, 327 days		Italian Socialist Party	Rumor II Colombo
Office not in use		17 February 1972 – 26 June 1972					Andreotti I
	Mario Tanassi (1916–2007)	26 June 1972	7 July 1973	1 year, 11 days		Italian Democratic Socialist Party	Andreotti II
Office not in use		7 July 1973 – 23 November 1974					Rumor IV·V
	Ugo La Malfa (1903–1979)	23 November 1974	12 February 1976	1 year, 81 days		Italian Republican Party	Moro IV
Office not in use		12 February 1976 – 20 March 1979					Moro V Andreotti III·IV
	Ugo La Malfa (1903–1979)	20 March 1979	26 March 1979^[5]	6 days		Italian Republican Party	Andreotti V
Office not in use		26 March 1979 – 4 August 1983					Cossiga I
							Cossiga II Forlani
							Spadolini I·II Fanfani V
	Arnaldo Forlani (1925–2023)	4 August 1983	18 April 1987	3 years, 257 days		Christian Democracy	Craxi I·II
Office not in use		18 April 1987 – 29 July 1987					Fanfani VI
	Giuliano Amato (1938–)	29 July 1987	13 April 1988	259 days		Italian Socialist Party	Goria
	Gianni De Michelis (1940–2019)	13 April 1988	22 July 1989	1 year, 100 days		Italian Socialist Party	De Mita
	Claudio Martelli (1943–)	22 July 1989	28 June 1992	2 years, 342 days		Italian Socialist Party	Andreotti VI·VII
Office not in use		28 June 1992 – 10 May 1994					Amato I
Office not in use		28 June 1992 – 10 May 1994					Ciampi
	Roberto Maroni (1955–2022)	10 May 1994	17 January 1995	252 days		Lega Nord	Berlusconi I
	Giuseppe Tatarella (1935–1999)	10 May 1994	17 January 1995	252 days		National Alliance	Berlusconi I
Office not in use		17 January 1995 – 17 May 1996					Dini
	Walter Veltroni (1955–)	17 May 1996	21 October 1998	2 years, 157 days		Democratic Party of the Left	Prodi I
	Sergio Mattarella (1941–)	21 October 1998	22 December 1999	1 year, 62 days		Italian People's Party	D'Alema I
Office not in use		22 December 1999 – 11 June 2001					D'Alema II Amato II
	Gianfranco Fini (1952–)	11 June 2001	23 April 2005	3 years, 316 days		National Alliance	Berlusconi II
	Marco Follini (1954–)	2 December 2004	23 April 2005	142 days		Union of Christians and Centre Democrats	Berlusconi II
	Gianfranco Fini (1952–)	23 April 2005	17 May 2006	1 year, 24 days		National Alliance	Berlusconi III
	Giulio Tremonti (1947–)	23 April 2005	17 May 2006	1 year, 24 days		Forza Italia	Berlusconi III
	Massimo D'Alema (1949–)	17 May 2006	8 May 2008	1 year, 357 days		Democrats of the Left / Democratic Party	Prodi II
	Francesco Rutelli (1954–)	17 May 2006	8 May 2008	1 year, 357 days		The Daisy / Democratic Party	Prodi II
Office not in use		8 May 2008 – 28 April 2013					Berlusconi IV
Office not in use		8 May 2008 – 28 April 2013					Monti
	Angelino Alfano (1970–)	28 April 2013	22 February 2014	300 days		The People of Freedom / New Centre-Right	Letta
Office not in use		22 February 2014 – 1 June 2018					Renzi Gentiloni
	Matteo Salvini (1973–)	1 June 2018	5 September 2019	1 year, 96 days		League	Conte I
	Luigi Di Maio (1986–)	1 June 2018	5 September 2019	1 year, 96 days		Five Star Movement	Conte I
Office not in use		5 September 2019 – 22 October 2022					Conte II Draghi
	Antonio Tajani (1953–)	22 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 36 days		Forza Italia	Meloni
	Matteo Salvini (1973–)	22 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 36 days		League	Meloni

Timeline

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References

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[1] "LEGGE 23 agosto 1988, n. 400".

[2] Salvini e Di Maio vicepremier: ecco tutti i nomi del governo

[3] Di Maio e Salvini: tutte le liti tra i due vicepremier

[4] Vice-Presidente del Consiglio – Angelino Alfano

[5] Died in office.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Deputy prime ministers of Italy
Kingdom of Italy	Togliatti Togliatti Rodinò Nenni Brosio
Italian Republic	Einaudi Pacciardi Saragat Piccioni Porzio Piccioni Saragat Pella Segni Piccioni Nenni De Martino Taviani De Martino Tanassi La Malfa La Malfa Forlani Amato De Michelis Martelli Maroni Tatarella Veltroni Mattarella Fini Follini Tremonti D'Alema Rutelli Alfano Salvini Di Maio Tajani Salvini