Matteo Renzi regains leadership of Partito Democratico (PD).

Matteo Renzi has regained the leadership of Italy’s ruling Partito Democratico (PD), securing 70 per cent of the votes in a primary election held on 30 April.

Renzi faced two candidates, justice minister Andrea Orlando – who took 19.5 per cent of the vote – and Puglia governor Michele Emiliano – who took ten per cent. Both candidates were considered further to the left of Renzi however neither was seen as a serious threat to the former Italian premier.

The almost two million party members who turned out to vote on a bank holiday weekend was a further boost for Renzi whose triumphant return comes less than five months after he resigned as prime minister following the rejection of his flagship constitutional reform in a referendum last December.

Renzi was replaced as Italian premier by Paolo Gentiloni, his foreign minister, whose new cabinet was practically identical to that of his predecessor.