Poll Shows 55％ Feel Good about Election Result; High Expectations for Takaichi’s Political Positions Seen as Largest Driver of Support

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:25 JST, February 11, 2026

Fifty-five percent of people polled said the outcome of the recent House of Representatives election was good, exceeding the 32% who said it was not, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey conducted nationwide on Monday and Tuesday. 8% of respondents said they were undecided.

Sunday’s election saw the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party secure more than two-thirds of all the seats in the lower house, while the newly established Centrist Reform Alliance suffered significant losses.

Approval of Takaichi’s Cabinet remained high at 67%, though this was slightly down from the 69% support seen in the previous survey, conducted last month. This contrasts sharply with the last lower house election, held in October 2024, in which the LDP suffered a major defeat, after which approval for the Cabinet of then Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plunged to 34%.

Respondents to this week’s survey were presented with nine possible reasons for the LDP’s large gain in Sunday’s election and asked to choose all the ones they thought were important factors. “High expectations for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s political stance” was chosen by the largest number of people, at 81%, far surpassing the second-place reason, “Opposition party leaders were unappealing,” at 64%. 59% said “opposition parties weren’t sufficiently prepared for the campaign,” and 58% said “the Takaichi Cabinet’s economic policies were widely approved of.” While many people felt that Takaichi’s popularity had led directly to the LDP’s landslide victory, there were also many who saw the opposition parties as having played a part.

Opinions were divided regarding the division of seats in the lower house: 49% felt “the opposition parties should have won more seats,” while 39% said the balance was “just right.” Only 6% thought “the ruling parties should have won more seats.”

The respondents were also asked to choose what issues and policies they weighed most heavily when voting. They were allowed to pick multiple answers from a list of ten. “Economic measures and combating high prices” topped the list, chosen by 81% of respondents, followed by “foreign policy and security,” at 65%. “Reforms to the tax system, including the consumption tax” and “social security, including pensions” tied at 64%.

Most parties in this election made cutting or abolishing the consumption tax part of their campaign pledges, a move that was approved of by 58% of respondents and disapproved of by 38%.

Support for the LDP was up from 35% in the previous survey to 40%, and the CRA went up from 5% to 7%. Support for the Democratic Party for the People dropped from 6% to 5%, and Sanseito gained from 4% to 5%. Team Mirai increased support from 1% to 4%, and the JIP went from 3% to 4%. The percentage of voters with no party preference was 23%, down from 31%.

The survey was conducted by calling 730 home landlines and 2,343 mobile phone numbers selected via random digit dialing. From the numbers called, 1,037 people gave valid answers, 379 on landlines and 658 on mobile phones. All respondents were eligible voters aged 18 or older.