Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, remains the public's favorite to become the LDP's next leader, a Jiji opinion poll showed Thursday.

In the August poll, Ishiba was backed by 18.7% of respondents, followed by former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi with 12.5%, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi with 6.5%, digital transformation minister Taro Kono with 5.2%, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, both with 4.7%.

Ishiba and Koizumi ranked first and second, respectively, as in the July poll, while Takaichi moved up from fifth place.