Poll: 18% Will ‘Vote for LDP’ in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Election; Political Funds Scandal Persistent Factor

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:57 JST, May 19, 2025

A Yomiuri Shimbun survey has found that the Liberal Democratic Party is the most popular party going into the upcoming Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, with 18% of respondents saying that the party would get their vote.

The survey was conducted by phone and online to analyze the preelection situation about a month ahead of the June 22 assembly election, for which the official campaign period is set to begin on June 13.

The Democratic Party for the People was the second most popular party, with 10% of respondents expressing support. Following the DPFP were the regional political party Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites first group), where Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike serves as a special adviser, and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, each with 7%. Komeito was next with 6%. The percentage of respondents who gave no response was 29%.

In a telephone survey conducted on May 28-30, 2021, ahead of the assembly election that year, the LDP had a large lead over the other parties, with 30% support. Compared with that result, the latest survey indicates that the party has lost support. In the 2021 election, the LDP won 33 seats and took back its position as the largest party in the assembly.

Amid the political funds scandal, in which LDP factions failed to report income from fundraising parties, a total of 26 LDP members in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly were found to have failed to report a total of some ¥35 million as income in their political funds reports. In January, the LDP Tokyo assembly member group held a press conference to apologize for the scandal, but it has yet to provide a clear explanation for how the underreporting practice began and other issues. In the latest survey, 79% of the respondents answered that they were “not convinced” by the LDP’s explanation, far exceeding the 6% who were “convinced.”

Asked if they were interested in the election, a total of 74% said they were “very” or “somewhat” interested, almost on par with the 2021 survey. As for the issues they find most pressing, with multiple answers allowed, the top response was “measures to address high prices and promote wage increases” at 78%, followed by “healthcare and welfare policies” at 53%, “crime prevention and security measures” at 50%, and “politics and money” and “measures to prepare for disasters such as earthquakes, windstorms and floods” at 46% each.

The survey was conducted on eligible voters in Tokyo from Friday to Sunday, and 1,476 people responded.