Berlusconi rapidly rose to the forefront of Italian politics in January 1994, forming a new party called . He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time and appointed as prime minister following the 1994 Italian general election, when Forza Italia gained a majority in the Chamber of Deputies less than three months after having been launched. His cabinet collapsed after nine months due to internal disagreements among the coalition parties, and he was succeeded as prime minister by Lamberto Dini. In the 1996 Italian general election, Berlusconi was defeated by the centre-left candidate Romano Prodi. In the 2001 Italian general election, he was again the centre-right candidate for prime minister and won against the centre-left candidate Francesco Rutelli. Berlusconi then formed his second and third cabinets, until 2006. Berlusconi was the leader of the centre-right coalition in the 2006 Italian general election, which he lost by a very narrow margin, his opponent again being Prodi. He was re-elected in the 2008 Italian general election following the collapse of the Second Prodi government and sworn in for the third time as prime minister on 8 May 2008.
Berlusconi rapidly rose to the forefront of Italian politics in January 1994 forming a new party called  He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time and appointed as prime minister following the 1994 Italian general election when Forza Italia gained a majority in the Chamber of Deputies less than three months after having been launched His cabinet collapsed after nine months due to internal disagreements among the coalition parties and he was succeeded as prime minister by Lamberto Dini In the 1996 Italian general election Berlusconi was defeated by the centre-left candidate Romano Prodi In the 2001 Italian general election he was again the centre-right candidate for prime minister and won against the centre-left candidate Francesco Rutelli Berlusconi then formed his second and third cabinets until 2006 Berlusconi was the leader of the centre-right coalition in the 2006 Italian general election which he lost by a very narrow margin his opponent again being Prodi He was re-elected in the 2008 Italian general election following the collapse of the Second Prodi government and sworn in for the third time as prime minister on 8 May 2008