Introduction
Guido Crosetto's political career spans the entirety of Italy's Second Republic. He joined Forza Italia in 1994, was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1996, served as Undersecretary of State for Defence from 2008 to 2011, co-founded Fratelli d'Italia in December 2012, and was appointed Italy's Minister of Defence on 22 October 2022. Across these three decades, Crosetto has occupied every level of Italian political life — constituency deputy, parliamentary committee member, junior minister, party founder and full cabinet minister.
His career reflects the wider transformation of the Italian centre-right: from the post-Tangentopoli moment that produced Forza Italia in 1994, through the unstable decade of the PdL and the collapse of the Berlusconi era, to the emergence of Fratelli d'Italia as Italy's leading political force. At each stage Crosetto was an active participant rather than a bystander, and his expertise in defence and security — reinforced by nine years as president of the AIAD aerospace and defence industry federation — gave him a consistent and distinctive political identity.
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The Forza Italia Era (1994–2012)
Crosetto joined Forza Italia in 1994, the year Silvio Berlusconi founded the movement in the vacuum left by the Tangentopoli anti-corruption investigations that had dismantled Italy's post-war party system. He stood for election in his native Cuneo constituency in Piedmont and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1996, beginning a parliamentary career that would last without interruption until his transition to the Senate in 2022.
He was re-elected in 2001, 2006 and 2008, consistently representing Cuneo and the wider Piedmontese electorate. Within the chamber he built a reputation as a dependable expert on defence, procurement and industrial policy, serving on the defence committee (Commissione Difesa) and developing relationships with military and industry stakeholders that would prove essential to his later ministerial career.
In 2008, following Forza Italia's merger into the Popolo della Libertà (PdL) and the decisive victory of the centre-right coalition in the general election, Crosetto was appointed Undersecretary of State for Defence in Berlusconi's fourth government — his first executive role after more than a decade in parliament.
Undersecretary of State for Defence (2008–2011)
Between 2008 and 2011 Crosetto served as Undersecretary of State for Defence in the Berlusconi IV government, working alongside Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa. The role gave him direct executive experience: managing defence procurement negotiations, representing Italy in international defence forums, and navigating the budget pressures that followed the 2008 financial crisis. The period also deepened his working relationship with La Russa, who would later become one of the three co-founders of Fratelli d'Italia.
The Berlusconi IV government ended in November 2011 amid the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, when Berlusconi resigned and was replaced by Mario Monti's technocratic government. The PdL's fragmentation in the following months set in motion a process of realignment across the Italian right that Crosetto, along with Giorgia Meloni and Ignazio La Russa, turned into an opportunity to build a new political movement.
Co-founding Fratelli d'Italia (December 2012)
Fratelli d'Italia was founded in December 2012 by Giorgia Meloni, Ignazio La Russa and Guido Crosetto, three figures who had all served within the PdL but who saw the deterioration of Berlusconi's political position and the fragmentation of the post-AN current within PdL as an opening to build a new conservative party with a clearer identity.
The new party took its name from the opening words of the Italian national anthem (Il Canto degli Italiani) and adopted a programme centred on national conservatism, Italian sovereignty, NATO commitment, and centre-right economic policy. It positioned itself to the right of Berlusconi's reconstituted Forza Italia but within the mainstream of European conservatism, joining the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.
Crosetto's role in the founding was essential in two respects. First, as a figure with genuine cross-partisan credibility and longstanding relationships in the defence and business communities, he gave the new party a face that was not solely associated with post-fascist or nationalist heritage. Second, his defence and security expertise provided FdI with an early claim to seriousness on national security matters — a claim that would become increasingly central to the party's governing ambitions.
FdI's Rise: 2% to 26% (2013–2022)
Fratelli d'Italia won approximately 2% of the vote in the 2013 general election — a modest debut for a new party, but one that established a parliamentary presence and a distinct identity. In 2018, amid the rise of Lega under Matteo Salvini and the Movimento 5 Stelle surge, FdI grew to around 4.4%, remaining in opposition as the yellow-green government of Lega and M5S took office.
The critical period came between 2019 and 2022. While Lega joined Mario Draghi's government of national unity in 2021 — a decision that cost Salvini's party significant support among the electorate — FdI remained in opposition. Meloni's consistent opposition stance, combined with a rightward shift in Italian public opinion on issues of immigration, security and economic sovereignty, drove FdI's polling from roughly 6% in early 2019 to over 20% by late 2021. In the September 2022 general election FdI won approximately 26% of the vote, making it the largest single party in Italy for the first time.
Throughout this period Crosetto remained one of FdI's most prominent public spokespeople — particularly on defence, NATO, Ukraine and transatlantic relations — while also leading AIAD, the Italian aerospace, defence and security industry federation, from 2013 to 2022. His dual role in politics and industry made him a distinctive figure, combining policy advocacy with direct industrial knowledge.
The September 2022 Election
In the general election of 25 September 2022, Fratelli d'Italia's historic result of approximately 26% produced a clear centre-right parliamentary majority. Crosetto stood as a candidate in the Senate from Piedmont and was elected, completing the transition from the Chamber of Deputies where he had served since 1996 to the upper house.
The election confirmed Italy's most significant political realignment in a generation: Meloni's party, which had been in single digits as recently as 2019, became the largest party in parliament; the centre-left coalition led by the Partito Democratico came second; and the Movimento 5 Stelle, despite recovering from its post-2018 collapse, came third. Lega and Forza Italia, completing the centre-right coalition, secured the additional seats needed for a comfortable governing majority in both chambers.
Minister of Defence (October 2022–)
On 22 October 2022, as part of the formation of the Meloni government, Guido Crosetto was appointed Minister of Defence of the Italian Republic — the most senior defence portfolio in a NATO member state's cabinet. His appointment was widely seen as a natural outcome of his decades of engagement with defence policy, his leadership of AIAD and his co-founder status within the governing party.
As Defence Minister, Crosetto has overseen Italian policy on the Russo-Ukrainian war, committed to reaching NATO's 2% GDP defence spending target, prioritised Mediterranean security, managed the procurement of new military capabilities, and represented Italy in EU and NATO defence councils. His ministerial tenure has been marked by an emphasis on Italy's European and transatlantic commitments alongside a clear-eyed assessment of the country's strategic interests in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
The appointment also illustrated the trajectory of Italian conservatism: from the fragile centre-right coalitions of the Berlusconi era to a durable governing majority anchored by a party that Crosetto helped build from scratch a decade earlier.