In 2017, the world’s oldest woman, Emma Morano, died in the Piedmontese town of Verbania at the age of 117. She had lived through 90 Italian governments. If the intervening four years are anything to go by, a 117-year-old in 2134 might at least match that record.

Yesterday, the pattern continued when Giuseppe Conte resigned as Italy’s prime minister. Two weeks ago, former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, withdrew his tiny Italia Viva party from the fragile governing coalition. Conte initially appeared secure but his loss of a majority in the Senate has precipitated his resignation. President Mattarella will now oversee the formation of a new government, be that under Conte or under someone else. Failing this, Italy goes to the polls. The right is expected to benefit from a snap election.

A truism has emerged among commentators that coronavirus exposes populists’ unreliability. Conte – who swapped a professorship for the premiership – has proven the exception. Italy, with 85,000 coronavirus deaths, has been one of the world’s hardest-hit countries. Yet, under Conte, Italy led the world in using a lockdown to tackle the virus. Voters responded: the prime minister’s popularity ratings soared to 65% and remain in the mid-50s.

At the same time, Conte, like many European leaders, has employed emergency powers to tackle the virus. Such behaviour is – putatively – at the nub of Renzi’s decision to leave the coalition government. Not that the former prime minister is getting much thanks for it: one recent poll named him Italy’s least popular politician.

Conte held steady when the Matteo Salvini’s far-right Lega left the governing coalition in August 2019. Steadiness is needed in a country facing an acute economic crisis and high Covid death rates. The situation is ongoing and there are no ready conclusions. This much, however, is clear: the country’s attempts to tackle Covid-19 and its effects have only been hindered by Renzi’s decision to leave government.

In a coalition-reliant parliamentary system like Italy’s, the benefits of co-operation and the dangers of ego are stark. They are even starker as the world tentatively emerges from a global pandemic.