LDP Sweeps Single-Seat Constituencies in 31 Prefectures

Tokyo, Feb. 9 (Jiji Press)–The ruling Liberal Democratic Party won every single-seat constituency in 31 of Japan’s 47 prefectures in Sunday’s House of Representatives election. The LDP won 316 seats in the election for the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, up sharply from 198 seats before the election. By contrast, the Centrist Reform Alliance, formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito prior to the election, secured only 49 seats, less than one-third of its pre-election total. Due to its landslide victory, the LDP faced a shortage of candidates in four regional proportional representation blocs, ceding 14 seats to other parties. Such shortages of proportional representation candidates have occurred from time to time since the 2005 Lower House election. It is believed to be the first time for a political party in Japan to have faced a shortage of 10 or more potential lawmakers. In Sunday’s election, 43 of the 45 LDP candidates involved in the party’s high-profile slush funds scandal won seats. In the previous Lower House poll in 2024, 28 of the scandal-hit 46 LDP candidates lost seats. This time, the impact on the election from the issue of money and politics seemed to be overshadowed by the popularity of Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi. Candidates from the LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, went up against each other in 85 of the country’s 289 single-seat constituencies. LDP candidates won 64 of the 85 seats, while the JIP grabbed 18. The remaining three went to opposition candidates. Those running from the LDP and the Centrist Reform Alliance battled each other in 29 single-seat constituencies, with the LDP grabbing 26 seats, the Centrist Reform Alliance securing two, and an independent candidate picking up one. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]