Enrico Letta, a 47-year-old centrist, came to power as a bridge-builder between his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and Silvio Berlusconi’s centre right.
A Europhile on the moderate side of the PD, his rapid ascent to the post of prime minister was as unexpected as his downfall, which was prompted by his own party leader, Matteo Renzi, 10 months later.
It was in April 2013, after weeks of post-election stalemate, that President Giorgio Napolitano asked Mr Letta to form a government, after party leader Pier Luigi Bersani had failed.
Unlike Mr Bersani, the party’s deputy leader Enrico Letta won the support of Berlusconi’s centre right.
It helped having an uncle, Gianni Letta, who was Berlusconi’s chief political fixer. Indeed, the younger Letta spent two hours with the his uncle’s former boss, shortly before heading to the president’s residence, the Quirinale, to discuss the make-up of his government.
While Berlusconi would not take part, one of his closest allies, Angelino Alfano, played a key role as Letta’s deputy and interior minister, remaining to the end, even after his former party leader abandoned the coalition.
In a country distinguished by its ageing political class, Enrico Letta’s political rise was rapid.
His political career began with the the centre-right Christian Democrat party that dominated Italian politics in the post-war era.
He served in three centre-left governments and became the third youngest Italian prime minister in history, after Giovanni Goria in 1987 and Amintore Fanfani in the 1950s.