The approval rating for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet is at 51%, and support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has rebounded since Ishiba became its new leader, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun. The nationwide survey was conducted from Tuesday to Wednesday, coinciding with the inauguration of the Cabinet.
Support for Ishiba’s Cabinet more than doubled the approval rating of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet in the previous survey. The disapproval rating for Ishiba’s Cabinet saw a sharp drop from Kishida’s Cabinet last month.
The support for LDP also climbed seven percentage points, recovering to the same level as a May 2023 survey that followed the Group of Seven summit meeting held in Hiroshima.
Yomiuri Shimbun has been conducting public opinion surveys after new cabinets are inaugurated since 1978. Among all administrations, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s cabinet recorded the highest approval rating at 87%. Support for Ishiba’s cabinet was lower than his recent predecessors – Kishida, Yoshihide Suga, and Shinzo Abe.
The most common reason cited by respondents who supported Ishiba’s cabinet was that there were no other good candidates available. Other reasons included trust in the prime minister and high expectations for administration policies.
On the other hand, those who did not support the new cabinet mentioned reasons such as it being an LDP-centered administration or having no expectations for its policies.
Regarding specific appointments made by Ishiba, opinions varied among respondents. While some approved of Hiroshi Moriyama as LDP secretary general and Shinjiro Koizumi as party Election Strategy Committee chairperson, others expressed disapproval.
When asked about priorities for policy issues by the new cabinet, respondents listed economy and employment as their top concern followed by education and child rearing, social security, diplomacy and security, and fiscal reconstruction.
A majority of respondents supported Ishiba’s willingness to revise Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement. Support for political parties other than LDP did not see significant changes compared to previous surveys.
In terms of voting intentions in proportional representation section of next House of Representatives election, LDP gained four percentage points while other parties remained relatively stable.
