The tourist posters call Umbria the "green heart of Italy". "Red heart" might long have been apter: until less than ten years ago some Umbrian towns were run by unreconstructed communists with mostly ex-communists in opposition. Yet in regional elections on May 31st, Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD), largely built on the ruins of Italy's Communist Party, came close to losing Umbria to the right. Overall, the vote was no disaster for Mr Renzi, the prime minister and leader of a PD-dominated coalition. His party triumphed in five out of seven regions, losing Liguria but gaining Campania. But the results showed the dangers Mr Renzi faces from the pd's traditional base. Although the numbers are not strictly comparable with the 2014 European elections, one estimate is that the PD's share of the national vote dropped from over 40% then to below 31% on May 31st.
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