TOKYO (Reuters) – Voter support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida slid by three points to 21%, the lowest since he took office in 2021, a poll by public broadcaster NHK showed on Monday, denting his chances of winning a party leadership race later this year.
Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to hold a leadership election in September, and the winner is all but assured to be the next premier because of the party’s majority in parliament’s powerful lower chamber.
The disapproval rating for Kishida’s government notched up five points from May to 60% in the NHK survey conducted from June 7-9, outpacing his support rate by nearly three to one.
Kishida’s popularity has been slipping since late last year following reports that some LDP factions failed to report hundreds of millions of yen from fundraising events.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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