JAPANESE Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition lost its majority in Sunday’s national poll.

Together with junior partner Komeito it secured 215 seats, down from the of 279 it previously held. It is the coalition’s worst result since briefly losing power in 2009.

Mr Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party remains the largest in the 465-seat lower house and is expected to be able to add a third coalition partner to stay in power.

The LDP’s coalition retains a majority in the less powerful upper house.

Mr Ishiba took office on October 1 and ordered the election in hope of shoring up support after his predecessor Fumio Kishida failed to address public outrage over a number of financial scandals.

“The results so far have been extremely severe, and we take them very seriously,” Mr Ishiba told Japan’s national NHK TV late on Sunday. “I believe the voters are telling us to reflect more and become a party that lives up to their expectations.”

The liberal Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, led by Yoshihiko Noda, made huge gains to 148 seats, from its previous 98. 

The Japanese Communist Party fell from 10 to eight seats in an election that is a mixture of first past the post and proportional representation but welcomed the overall outcome of the election as a “historic vote.”

The party said the “atmosphere has changed dramatically” in Japan, adding:

“This shows that a new political process has begun for the people to explore new politics to replace the politics of the LDP,” saying its focus would be to challenge the government’s prioritisation of corporate interests and its pursuit of a “war state based on the unconditional alliance with the United States.”