Japan’s LDP Suffers Bruising Loss in Tokyo Before National Vote

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered its worst-ever result in a Tokyo metropolitan election, losing its spot as the biggest political force on the assembly less than a month before voters deliver a verdict on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s premiership in a national vote.

The LDP lost 9 seats in the 127-seat assembly to end up with 21 representatives after Sunday’s election, leaving it well behind Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike’s Tomin First no Kai, a locally focused party that maintained its grip on 31 seats. Among national opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party expanded its representation on the assembly to 17 from 12, while the Democratic Party for the People won its first nine seats in the metropolitan government.