The three lower house seats were scooped up by the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), Sputnik quoted the Japanese broadcaster NHK report.

The by-election in the Nagasaki constituency was called after the LDP lawmaker stepped down in January in response to a scandal related to the party’s failure to report several million dollars’ worth of funding that is believed to have gone into slush funds. In a similar case, the by-election in Tokyo’s district was called after the senior vice justice minister resigned over allegations of bribing voters. LDP did not field candidates in Tokyo and Nagasaki following the developments.

Meanwhile, the prefecture of Shimane saw an LDP candidate lose to a CDP rival in the by-election that took place after the LDP lawmaker who held the seat died in November 2023, the report said.

The failure of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s party to secure Shimane prefecture, which is traditionally seen as a conservative stronghold, is expected to undermine his standing ahead of the next general election and the LDP leadership contest, slated for this fall.