The joint public opinion poll conducted by the Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network (FNN) on Aug. 21–22 probed views on which politician would be most suitable to serve as the next prime minister. Some 17.9% of pollees said that they support Minister in charge of Administrative Reform Kono Taro, giving him the top ranking for the fourth straight month since the May 2021 poll. Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, who was third in the July poll, dropped to seventh place, garnering support from 2.5% of all respondents, down 6.6 percentage points from the July poll. Former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Ishiba Shigeru garnered the support of 15.5% of respondents, making him the second-most frequently selected for next prime minister for the second consecutive month. Next were Minister of the Environment Koizumi Shinjiro at 11.4% and former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo at 8.6%.
Former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Takaichi Sanae, who has announced her desire to run for LDP president, received the backing of 1.5%, and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shimomura Hakubun was backed by 0.2%. Former LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Kishida Fumio received the support of 3.5% of pollees, down 0.2 points.
[Polling methodology: A total of 1,196 men and women, aged 18 and over, across the nation were surveyed. The nation was divided into 11 blocs corresponding to the Lower House proportional representation districts. The survey was conducted by placing telephone calls on a random digit dialing (RDD) basis until the calculated number of responses obtained from each bloc corresponded to that bloc’s relative population. A weighted adjustment was then performed for such variables as gender and age. Calls were placed to both landline and mobile numbers in the ratio of 4:6. This follow-up question was posed to respondents who gave an unclear answer to the question about Cabinet support: “Which is closer to your view?” The responses to the follow-up questions were added to the responses to the initial question. The survey was conducted on Aug. 21–22, 2021.]
