After losing the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the Northern Liberal Democratic Party will face a tough battle in the upper house election next month

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in Japan has come to an end. The First Party of the People of Tokyo, founded by Tokyo's female governor Yuriko Koike, achieved a victorious start and once again rose to become the largest party in the capital, while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Allies suffered a heavy blow. Analysts say that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose approval rating has been consistently low, will face a tough battle in the Senate election next month.

According to the results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, among the 127 seats, the First Party of the People of Tokyo won 31 seats, five more than before. This party is a local political party established by Koike after he left the Liberal Democratic Party in 2017.

The Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat this time. Its number of seats dropped from 33 before the election to 21, which is even lower than the 23 seats it won in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in 2017. The ruling coalition Komeito Party was no exception, losing four seats.

Last year, the Liberal Democratic Party, burdened by a money scandal, lost seats in the House of Representatives election. The same problem was also faced in this Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. Before the election, several members of the assembly were exposed for false accounting. Among the seven tainted members, five lost the election.

The upper house election in Japan will be held in July. An anonymous senior official at the Prime minister's Office expressed a sense of crisis regarding the outcome of this election. He said, "This metropolitan assembly election is a major warning from the citizens to the Liberal Democratic Party."

Shi Po admitted on Monday (June 23rd) that this was a very severe verdict. Analysts say that if he fails to come up with a policy to deal with inflation, he will still have to face a tough battle in the Senate election next month.

In 1989, affected by factors such as the high consumption tax issue, the Liberal Democratic Party suffered a defeat in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. Subsequently, it also suffered a crushing defeat in the upper house election, and the then Prime Minister, Sosuke Uno, resigned in disgrace for this.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Ishiba is stepping up its efforts to plan more chips to win public support, such as increasing subsidies for gasoline and electricity. However, the analysis suggests that due to the disunity of the opposition party, it is difficult to pose a threat to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

It is worth noting that the results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election show that some minor parties have performed well, especially the People's Democratic Party, which lost to the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Representatives election last year, and won nine seats this time.

Furthermore, the conservative "participating party" that ran for the first time sent out four candidates, among whom three were elected. This xenophobic small party, with "Japanese First" as its campaign slogan, is obviously quite popular.