Japan's Ruling Party Wins Parliamentary Elections
- 8.02.2026, 17:35
The Liberal Democratic Party won 224 out of 465 seats
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has won 224 seats out of 465 (289 in single-member districts and 176 in proportional representation) in early elections to the House of Representatives, according to early voting results published by the Yomiuri newspaper.
The coalition partner Japan Renewal Society can tentatively count on 20 seats. Together, they could overcome the two-thirds vote threshold needed to override an upper house veto and initiate constitutional amendments.
About 163 seats have yet to be allocated, and the newspaper predicts the ruling party can count on 304-332 seats and could thus secure an individual majority, regaining sole control of the most powerful chamber of parliament for the first time in more than a year.
According to exit polls and NHK analysis, the ruling coalition is expected to win between 302 and 366 seats.
On February 8, Japan held its second early parliamentary elections in a year and a half. They were called on Jan. 19 at the initiative of Takaichi, who said the vote should be an indirect election for the head of government and provide her with a mandate to implement political changes.
In particular, the politician said her priority was to revise national security documents, strengthen defense policy and establish a national intelligence agency.
The snap election was called less than three months after Takaichi took over as cabinet chief.
At the time of the dissolution of parliament, the LDPJ had 19 Gaining an individual majority expands the government's institutional capacity. The LDPJ gains the right to single-handedly appoint chairmen of parliamentary committees and speed up the passage of bills.
Takaichi became head of the LDPJ in October 2025, following a string of scandals, embezzlement of donations by party factions and links to the totalitarian sect Unification Church. In October 2024, Takaichi's predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, called a special election for the House of Representatives in hopes of rectifying the situation. However, the LDPJ and its coalition partner Komeito were defeated, losing their majority in the lower house for the first time since 2012. In July 2025, the ruling coalition also lost its majority in the upper house for the first time since 1999.
In September, Ishiba resigned. Even before Takaichi's appointment as prime minister was confirmed, Komeito announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition and later merged with the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), a principled opponent of the LDPJ, to form the Center Reform Alliance. Takaichi, on the other hand, entered into a new coalition agreement with the Japan Renewal Society.