1980 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 22 June 1980. They were the result of a vote of no confidence brought by the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) on 16 May regarding corruption and rises in public utility charges as reasons for the House of Representatives of Japan (lower house) to withdraw its backing from the government.

1980 Japanese general election

22 June 1980
All 511 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan 256 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.57% (6.56%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Masayoshi Ōhira[lower-alpha 1] Ichio Asukata Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Komeito Leader since 1 December 1978 13 December 1977 13 February 1967 Last election 248 seats, 44.59% 107 seats, 19.71% 57 seats, 9.78% Seats won 284 107 33 Seat change 36 25 Popular vote 28,262,441 11,400,747 5,329,942 Percentage 47.88% 19.31% 9.03% Swing 3.29% 0.40% 0.74%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Sasaki Ryōsaku Sanzō Nosaka Yōhei Kōno Party Democratic Socialist Communist New Liberal Leader since 7 July 1970 June 1976 Last election 35 seats, 6.78% 39 seats, 10.42% 4 seats, 3.02% Seats won 32 29 12 Seat change 4 12 8 Popular vote 3,896,728 5,803,613 1,766,396 Percentage 6.60% 9.83% 2.99% Swing 0.18% 0.59% 0.3%   Seventh party   Leader Hideo Den Party Socialist Democratic Leader since March 1978 Last election 2 seats, 0.68% Seats won 3 Seat change 1 Popular vote 402,832 Percentage 0.68% Swing
Prime Minister before election Masayoshi Ōhira Liberal Democratic Prime Minister-designate Zenkō Suzuki Liberal Democratic

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 the both houses of the Diet were called in June 1980. During the election, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party died during the campaign. Ōhira had expected the vote of no confidence to fail, and was visibly shaken when it passed by a margin of 243–187. Sixty-nine members of his own LDP, including Fukuda, abstained. Given the choice of resigning or calling new elections, Ōhira chose the latter and began campaigning for LDP candidates. He was hospitalized for exhaustion on 31 May and died of a massive heart attack 12 days later.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Ito acted in Ōhira's place as deputy after his death. In the elections of both the houses LDP gained a majority. The election results for the lower house are shown in the table below. Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Secretary General of LDP, led the LDP to its greatest victory in fifteen years, capitalizing on the "sympathy vote" generated by Ōhira's death. The Prime Minister was succeeded by Zenkō Suzuki after the election.

Election results

 Summary of the 22 June 1980 Japanese House of Representatives election results[1][2]

Parties		Candidates	Votes[3]	%	Seats	+/- (dissolution)
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)	310	28,262,442	47.88%	284	36
	Japanese Socialist Party (JSP)	149	11,400,747	19.31%	107	0
	Japanese Communist Party (JCP)	129	5,803,613	9.83%	29	12
	Justice Party	64	5,329,942	9.03%	33	25
	Democratic Socialist Party (DSP)	50	3,896,728	6.60%	32	4
	New Liberal Club (NLC)	25	1,766,396	2.99%	12	8
	Social Democratic Federation (SDF)	5	402,832	0.68%	3	1
	Center-left opposition	144	11,395,898	19.30%	80	20
	Others	42	109,168	0.18%	0	0
	Independents	61	2,056,967	3.48%	11	7
Totals (Turnout 74.6%, incl. invalid votes)		835	59,028,837	100.00%	511	1 (vacant seat)

Vote share LDP   47.88% JSP   19.31% JCP   9.83% KP   9.03% DSP   6.60% NLC   2.99% SDF   0.68% Independents   3.48% Others   0.18%

Parliament seats LDP   55.58% JSP   20.94% KP   6.46% DSP   6.26% JCP   5.68% NLC   2.35% SDF   0.59% Independents   2.15%

Notes

1. Ōhira died 10 days before the election.

References

• Mahendra Prakash (2004), Coalition Experience in Japanese Politics: 1993-2003, New Delhi: JNU.

1. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Statistics Department, Long-term statistics, chapter 27: Public servants and elections, sections 27-7 to 27-10 Elections for the House of Representatives
2. Interparliamentary Union (IPU): 1979 and 1980 Shūgiin elections
3. Fractional votes rounded to full numbers