Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga is the voters’ favourite to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to a poll published by the daily Mainichi Shimbun on Thursday, amid speculation over an early general election.

About 44 percent of respondents, asked whom they would pick as Abe’s successor, said they would choose Suga, while 36 percent favoured former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Suga held a clearer lead among supporters of the leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)...