1980 Japanese House of Councillors election

1980 Japanese House of Councillors election

22 June 1980
126 (of the 252) seats in the House of Councillors 127 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Masayoshi Ōhira Ichio Asukata Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party LDP Socialist Komeito Last election 125 seats, 35.8% 56 seats, 17.3% 25 seats, 14.2% Seats after 135 47 26 Seat change 10 9 1 Popular vote 23,778,190 7,341,828 6,669,387 Percentage 42.5% 13.1% 11.9% Swing 6.7% 4.2% 2.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Sanzō Nosaka Kasuga Ikkō Yōhei Kōno Party JCP Democratic Socialist New Liberal Club Last election 16 seats, 8.4% 11 seats, 6.7% 3 seats, 3.9% Seats after 12 11 3 Seat change 4 0 0 Popular vote 4,072,019 3,364,478 351,291 Percentage 7.3% 6.0% 0.6% Swing 1.1% 0.7% 3.3%
President of the House of Councillors before election Ken Yasui LDP Elected President of the House of Councillors Masatoshi Tokunaga LDP

Elections for the Japanese House of Councillors were held in Japan in 1980. On 16 May 1980, the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) brought no-confidence motion before the Diet relating to corruption issues, proposing more defense spending and rises in public utility charges as reasons for the House of Representatives to withdraw its backing from the government. Unexpectedly, 69 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members of the Diet from the Fukuda Takeo, Miki Takeo and Hidenao Nakagawa factions abstained from voting on the motion. The government was defeated by 56 votes in total of 243 and resigned. For the first time elections for both the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives were called in June 1980. In the elections of both the houses the LDP gained a perfect majority.

Results

Party	National seats	Prefecture seats	Total seats 1980	Total
Liberal Democratic Party	21	48	69	135
Japan Socialist Party	9	13	22	47
Komeito	9	3	12	26
Communist Party	4	3	7	12
Democratic Socialist Party	4	2	6	12
Others	1	1	2	20
Independents	3	5	8
Total	50	76	126	252

References

• About Japan Series (1999), Changing Japanese Politics, No. 24, Tokyo: Foreign Press Center.
• Mahendra Prakash (2004), Coalition Experience in Japanese Politics: 1993-2003, New Delhi: JNU[1].
• https://archive.is/20070712184335/http://www.binghamton.edu/cdp/era/elections/jpn80par.html