2017 Tokyo prefectural election


Prefectural elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly were held on 2 July 2017. The 127 members were elected in forty-two electoral districts, seven returning single members elected by first-past-the-post, and thirty-five returning multiple members under single non-transferable vote. Four districts had their magnitude adjusted in this election to match population changes.
The results of the election persuaded Shinzo Abe to call a snap election, and led to the resignation of Renho as Democratic Party leader.

Background

LDP leader Shinzo Abe took office as Prime Minister following the 2012 general election and strengthened his position in the 2014 general election. However, Abe's government was subsequently struck by criticism for its handling of the Moritomo Gakuen scandal and controversial remarks by Defense Minister Tomomi Inada. In the meantime, Yuriko Koike won the 2016 Tokyo gubernatorial election as an independent candidate, and left the LDP in June 2017 to found a new local political party, Tomin First, to challenge the LDP in the prefectural election. At the time of the election, Koike was widely believed to be eyeing a future bid to replace Abe as prime minister.

Candidates

Results

With counting almost complete, the seat distribution was as follows:
Months after the Tokyo prefectural election, Abe called a snap general election for October 2017, and Koike established the new Kibo no To party to challenge the LDP nationally.

Results summary

Results by district

Most districts are coterminous with a municipality of the same name. The following districts comprise multiple municipalities:
On the same day, the mayoral election in Kokubunji, Tokyo returned incumbent Kunio Izawa, backed by LDP and Komeito, against center-left supported former deputy mayor Michio Higuchi. Another prefectural election on July 2 was the gubernatorial election in Hyōgo.