In the 8 February general election, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged from 198 to 316 seats, exceeding a two-thirds supermajority on its own (310 out of 465 total seats).
This is the first time in the post-war era that a single party has secured a two-thirds supermajority, far surpassing the Democratic Party of Japan’s 308 seats in 2009 (out of 480), the Nakasone government’s 304 seats in 1986 (out of 512), and the Koizumi government’s 296 seats in the 2005 postal privatisation snap election (out of 480).
In addition, the LDP ran too few candidates on the proportional representation lists, resulting in a total of 14 seats being forfeited to other parties. Coalition partner Nippon Ishin no Kai also increased from 34 to 36 seats, bringing the ruling bloc to 352 seats (76% of the total).
The single greatest reason for Takaichi’s victory was her decision to frame the election as a referendum on her premiership.
