The cabinet was formed after Matteo Renzi's resignation as Prime Minister, due to the result of the 2016 constitutional referendum. The new cabinet preserved most of the ministers of the former Renzi cabinet. It was led by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), and it originally included the New Centre-Right (NCD) and the Centrists for Europe (CpE) as junior partners. It also included a few non-party independents. The NCD was later merged into Popular Alternative (AP).