Giorgia Meloni celebrates record as Italy’s longest-serving prime minister since World War II

Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government has reached a milestone that has eluded Italy’s postwar leaders: 1,413 consecutive days in power, longer than Silvio Berlusconi’s previous record from 2001 to 2005.

Italy has changed governments 68 times since becoming a republic after World War II. None has completed a full five-year term. Berlusconi came closest, but a government crisis forced him to resign briefly before forming a new cabinet.

Meloni plans to mark the record with her party on Friday in Bari, on the Adriatic coast, at a major campaign rally. The achievement rests partly on the fact that her coalition has not changed since she entered office in October 2022, an unusual degree of continuity in modern Italian politics.

Her direct and pragmatic approach has helped her avoid the crises that weakened earlier governments, including the loss of lawmakers and ministers. Yet the record alone will not define her legacy. Her results, or lack of them, could determine whether voters believe her government deserves another term.

When Meloni took office, she became Italy’s first woman prime minister and the first head of government whose party had neo-fascist roots. European allies and financial markets initially watched her with concern. Since then, she has largely governed pragmatically, strongly supported Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, worked with European institutions and maintained fiscal discipline. Her relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump had until recently been her most visible foreign-policy asset. Italy’s next election is due in late 2027, shifting the question from whether Meloni can govern to whether voters want her to continue.