LDP’s Bitter Defeat in Tokyo

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was seriously defeated in the election of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly voted on June 22nd. The voters expressed frustration with inappropriate management of political funds, which was revealed not only among the lawmakers of Abe faction in the Diet, but also the assembly members of Tokyo. It can be a prelude for the ruling party of serious consequence in the Upper House election in July.

 

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has 127 seats. To this quadrennial election, 295 candidates ran in 42 districts. Voter turnout was 47.59 percent.

 

The slush fund scandal of Abe faction affected local politics in Tokyo. The faction distributed 676 million yen to its members as the kickback of sales in fundraising parties for five years. As the scandal harmed the LDP, it was revealed in January 2025 that the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members with the LDP also had the same kind of kickback system. The total amount of secret fund was 35 million yen, which had not been reported to the government.

 

The scandal directly reflected in the result of the election. The LDP had 30 seats in the assembly before the election, and the party fielded 49 candidates, including 7 who did not have official endorsement from the party. The result was 21 of winning. The rest of 28 candidates lost. It was the worst record for the LDP, worse than 23 seats of winning in 2017.

 

To show serious regret to the voters, the LDP did not issue official endorsement to 6 candidates who had been involved in the false management of political fund as the Secretary General of LDP in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Only 3 out of those 6 former Secretary Generals lost their seats. Among 17 LDP candidates who were involved in the scandal, 12 won and 5 lost.

 

All the candidates of Komeito, LDP’s coalition partner in the Diet, has been winning in previous 8 elections. However, 2 candidates of Komeito lost in this election. It was likely that Komeito was regarded as the supporter of the LDP which management of political fund was not trustworthy.

 

The votes escaped from the LDP and Komeito seemed to have gone to the party led by the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, which is named Tokyoite First. The party increased its seats from 26 before the election to 31, replacing the LDP as the biggest group in the assembly. It is supposed that independent voters shifted their support from the LDP to the Tokyoite First. Koike’s policies for supporting families appealed to the voters.

 

The Constitutional Democratic Party showed a surge from 12 seats to 17, as Japan Communist Party reduced its seats from 19 to 14. Although the Democratic Party for the People did not have a seat before the election, it gained 9 out of 18 candidates. The party led by Shinji Ishimaru, who finished Tokyo gubernatorial election at the second position last July, did not win any seat, in spite of fielding 42 candidates. Retreat of the LDP does not necessarily contribute to advance of all the opposition parties.


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