Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to announce his resignation by the end of next month, media said on Wednesday, following a bruising defeat in an upper house election. That step would trigger a leadership race in his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will resign in the wake of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s electoral defeat, with formal announcement expected until the end of August, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

The loss on Sunday left the Liberal Democrats a minority party in both houses of Parliament, while two new nationalist parties surged.