Sanae Takaichi elected to lead Japan’s ruling party, likely to be country’s first woman prime minister

By AFP 4 October 2025, 9:12 am

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Sanae Takaichi, Japan's Prime Minister contender and former economic security minister, speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) leadership election in Tokyo on October 4, 2025. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon / POOL / AFP)

China hawk Sanae Takaichi wins the leadership of Japan’s ruling party, putting her on course to become the country’s first woman prime minister.

She was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after winning a runoff vote against the telegenic but inexperienced Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of a former prime minister.

The 64-year-old, whose hero is Margaret Thatcher, is charged with reviving the ailing LDP as a new anti-immigration grouping snaps at its heels.

The arch-conservative will almost certainly be approved by parliament as Japan’s fifth prime minister in as many years, a step that local media say could come the week of October 13.