Public support for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stood at 28.0%, the lowest starting approval rate for any administration since 2000, a Jiji Press monthly opinion poll showed Thursday.

The figure is higher than the approval rate of 18.7% for former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet in September but below the key threshold of 30%. An administration with less than 30% public support is said to be in the "danger zone."

The starting approval rate for the Kishida Cabinet was 40.3%, while that for the Cabinet of his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, was 51.2%. The Cabinet of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who served in the top post before Suga, had a starting approval rate of 54.0%.

The previous lowest starting approval rate since 2000 was that for the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori inaugurated in April 2000. Mori's administration started with a 33.3% approval rate.

The disapproval rate for the Ishiba Cabinet was 30.1%, the Jiji Press survey showed. Meanwhile, 41.9% of respondents said they "do not know" whether they approve or disapprove of Ishiba's administration.

Ishiba took office as prime minister and unveiled his Cabinet on Oct. 1, after he was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, succeeding Kishida, in late September.

The Jiji Press survey also showed that 26.1% of respondents plan to vote for the LDP in the proportional representation part of the Oct. 27 general election for the House of Representatives.

The leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was favored by 10.1% of survey takers. Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, had 5.2% of respondents supporting it, and Nippon Ishin no Kai, 4.3%.

A total of 45.3% said they hope that the government will continue to be led by the LDP after the Lower House election, while 27.5% expressed wishes for a change of government.

Among those who voiced support for the Ishiba Cabinet, 9.1% said they trust him, 8.6% said there is no one else suitable to become prime minister and 4.5% said they have a good impression of him. Respondents were allowed to choose multiple answers for this section.

Of those who disapprove of the Ishiba Cabinet, 17.5% said they cannot expect anything from the administration, 10.1% said they cannot trust Ishiba and 7.9% said the Cabinet's policies are bad.

As for support rates for political parties, 18.9% of respondents back the LDP, down 2.2 percentage points from the last survey. The CDP had a support rate of 4.6%, up 0.6 percentage points.

Komeito had a support rate of 4.0%, followed by 2.2% for Nippon Ishin, 1.5% each for the Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi, 1.2% for the Democratic Party for the People, 0.4% for Sanseito and 0.3% for the Social Democratic Party.

A total of 62.2% of respondents have no preference for any party.

The interview-based survey, conducted over four days through Monday, involved 2,000 people age 18 and above across the country. Valid responses were obtained from 58.6% of them.