Japan's Fumio Kishida defies expectations as ruling party easily keeps majority

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling LDP defied expectations and held on to a stable majority in Sunday's parliamentary election, solidifying his position in a fractious party and allowing him to ramp up stimulus.

Kishida's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) emerged with fewer seats in the powerful lower house than it won in the last election in 2017. But the LDP maintained its single-party majority in a big victory for Kishida, who took power only a month ago.

The result was at odds with expectations and initial exit polls that suggested the LDP would need to rely on its junior coalition party for a majority. Kishida, a soft-spoken former banker who has struggled to shake off an image that he lacks charisma, is also likely to be emboldened by the win.