Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during her joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) after their bilateral meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo. Carl Court/PA Wire/dpaJapan's conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has won a decisive victory in the country's snap parliamentary election, according to exit polls on Sunday.
The result means that her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will win back its majority in the 465-seat lower house of the National Diet, Japanese media reported on the basis of exit polls.
The LDP, which has ruled almost uninterruptedly since 1955, previously lost its majority in both the lower and upper houses due to scandals that damaged its reputation.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSupported by the right-wing Ishin party, it had recently only governed with a wafer-thin majority.
Broadcaster NHK reported that the LDP and its allies could exceed a crucial two-thirds majority in the lower house.
Takaichi was only elected as the first woman to head the government at the end of October. She has enjoyed very high poll ratings and took the opposition by surprise by calling a snap election.
The largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and the LDP's long-standing partner Komeito hastily joined forces for the snap poll to form the new Centrist Reform Alliance.
The party portrays itself as a liberal alternative to the right-wing Takaichi.
NHK reported that the alliance could however lose about half of its seats.
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