When Argentines last voted in a national election two years ago they chose Cristina Fernández as their new president with 45 per cent of the vote and no need for a run-off. They gave the political block controlled by her and her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, healthy majorities in both houses of Congress. In a mid-term election on June 28th not only did the first couple lose those majorities but they also lost the political dominance they have exercised over Argentina since 2003. They show few immediate signs of heeding the demand for change.

In the lower house, where half the seats were in play, the Kirchners’ supporters now have just 115 of the 257 seats. They lost three seats in the Senate, which is now evenly balanced. Across the country, their vote sank to around 30 per cent in an election that Mr Kirchner had framed as a referendum on the first couple’s leftist, populist version of Peronism. He stood himself in Buenos Aires province, where nearly 40 per cent of Argentines live, but came second, beaten by a group of dissident, centrist Peronists headed by Francisco de Narváez, a wealthy businessman.

There were other hugely symbolic defeats, such as in Santa Cruz, the Patagonian province where Mr Kirchner was governor before he became president. Ms Fernández sought solace in the performance of Fernando Solanas, a leftist filmmaker, whose new grouping came second in the capital district, winning 24 per cent (though he campaigned as an opponent). The opposition is split into two broad blocks — the Peronist right and the Radicals, each with rival leaders. But both are now much stronger.

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