President Mattarella ended the 80-day long political deadlock reigning over Italy by giving the mandate to law professor Mr Conte after a meeting that lasted for almost two hours.

Mr Conte has accepted the President's offer saying that he will be "the defence attorney of Italians".

Claiming his government will be one "of change", he added: "The President and I spoke about the difficult phase Italy has been going through in the past months and the challenges ahead of us.

"And I am aware Italy needs to confirm European and international obligations.

"The next government will have to start negotiating immediately over the European budget, the asylum rights and the banking union.

"It's my intention to work hard on this by building alliances and operating to defend the national interest."

The country's new Prime Minister is backed by anti-establishment Five Star Movement and anti-immigration party Lega.

He doesn't hold any elected position and has no political or management experience.

Mr Conte's appointment was not welcomed by political parties set to head to the opposition.

Andrea Cangini, senator of Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right wing party Forza Italia said: "Conte is an obscure member of the establishment.

"We ignore everything about him beside his relationship with the official and unofficial forces of the country.

"He is already seen as a threat by international markets and has been hegemonised by the Five Star, which are swinging between incompetence and irresponsibility.

"There is great worry."

And Democratic Party's president Matteo Orfini said: "A far-right wing government is about to be born, with political forces coming from the far-right, with a far-right programme.

"And with a typical far-right wing's political culture, as demonstrated by the fascist-like threats issued by Alessandro Di Battista towards President Mattarella."

President Mattarella faced criticism from both Lega and Five Star's members for taking longer than expected to confirm Mr Conte as PM because he was reportedly worried over the law professor's lack of experience in politics.

Mr Conte has also been accused by the New York Times of inflating his academic resume to raise his international profile.

Five Star and Lega agreed to a government pact last Friday after more than two months of coalition talks, promising to hike taxes and jack up spending, worrying both the markets and the European Union as the changes could spark a shodown with the bloc.

Both parties supporting him are widely eurosceptic, and have promised in the past to battle the EU on key topics, becoming the first founding member of the bloc threatening the survival of the union.