Paola De Micheli


Paola De Micheli is an Italian manager and politician, member of the Democratic Party, who has served as Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, in the government of Giuseppe Conte, since 5 September 2019; she is the first woman to hold the office.

Biography

De Micheli graduated in Political Sciences at the Catholic University in Milan and worked as a manager in the agri-food industry.
She entered politics in the late 1990s, during the season of The Olive Tree and has been a city councilor of Pontenure from 1999 to 2004. She joined the Democratic Party in 2007 and held the office of Councilor for Human and Economic Resources in her birth town Piacenza from 2007 to 2010.

Early political career

At the 2008 general election, De Micheli is elected to the Chamber of Deputies and during the 2009 primaries, she supported Pier Luigi Bersani, later elected Secretary, who appointed her as new party manager for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Once re-elected Deputy at the 2013 general election, De Micheli has been appointed Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy in the Renzi Cabinet and the Gentiloni Cabinet, holding the seat from 2014 to 2017. On September 2017, De Micheli left her office at the Ministry of Economy in order to replace Vasco Errani as new Commissioner for the reconstruction of the areas hit by the 2016 and 2017 earthquakes.
She is re-elected for the third time to the Chamber of Deputies at the 2018 general election. The following year, during the 2019 primaries, she supported Nicola Zingaretti: once Zingaretti was elected Secretary, De Micheli's name came out as new possible Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party.

Minister of Infrastructure and Transport

On 5 September 2019, De Micheli was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, in the government of Giuseppe Conte, who led a coalition between Democrats and the Five Star Movement.