Japan’s scandal-ridden ruling party looks certain to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 15 years.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed by Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister,  has ruled Japan for almost all of its post-war history. But it is projected to win just 153 to 219 lower house seats in Sunday’s snap elections, exit polls suggest.

A party needs at least 233 out of 465 seats to control the house, meaning the LDP will need to consider coalition arrangements to stay in power.

It would be its worst election result since it briefly lost power in 2009, reflecting voters’ outrage over its extensive financial scandals and failure to deal with spiralling inflation that has led to record low approval ratings.