The groups, launched in December 2014, originally included 34 deputies and 36 senators, comprising the
New Centre-Right (NCD), the
Union of the Centre (UdC), some dissidents from
Civic Choice (SC) and a splinter from the
Five Star Movement (M5S). The UdC and most former SC members were previously affiliated to the
For Italy groups. In the
2015 regional elections, Popular Area ran lists in
Veneto,
Liguria and
Tuscany. In
Campania and
Umbria the names "Popular Campania" and "For Popular Umbria" were used, respectively. Finally, in
Marche and
Apulia, the NCD (without the UdC) formed a joint list with
Marche 2020 and
Francesco Schittulli's movement, respectively, under the Popular Area banner. The best results were obtained in Apulia (6.0%), Campania (4.0%) and Marche (4.0%); in Apulia and Marche the UdC, which was in alliance with the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD), scored 6.0% and 3.4%, respectively. In the run-up of the
2016 constitutional referendum the UdC campaigned for the "No", while the NCD was among the keenest supporters of the "Yes". After the referendum, which saw a huge defeat of the "Yes" side, the UdC left Popular Area altogether. However, some UdC splinters, notably including
Pier Ferdinando Casini,
Gianpiero D'Alia and
Gian Luca Galletti, launched an alternative party named
Centrists for Europe (CpE) and confirmed their alliance with the NCD within Popular Area. In March 2017 the NCD was dissolved into
Popular Alternative (AP) and also Popular Area was set aside. ==Composition==