Sanae Takaichi set to become Japan’s first female prime minister

Japan’s ruling conservative party has elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning the 64-year-old to be Japan’s first female prime minister.

Takaichi is among the more conservative candidates leaning to the party’s right. She faces many challenges including uniting a struggling ruling party after a turbulent few years which saw it rocked by scandals and internal conflicts.

She also has to contend with a sluggish economy and Japanese households struggling with relentless inflation and a stagnant wages.

If confirmed, she will also have to navigate a rocky US-Japan relationship and see through the tariff deal with the Trump administration agreed by the previous government.

Last month, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose term lasted just over a year, announced he would step down after a series of election defeats that saw the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) governing coalition lose its majority in both chambers of parliament.

Takaichi has been a long-time admirer of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. She is now ever closer to fulfilling her Iron Lady ambition.

But many women voters don’t see her as an advocate for progress.

Takaichi is a staunch conservative who’s long opposed legislation allowing women to keep their maiden names after marriage, saying it is against tradition. She is also against same sex marriage.

A protégé of the late former leader Shinzo Abe, Takaichi has vowed to bring back his economic vision, known as Abenomics – which involves high fiscal spending and cheap borrowing.

The LDP veteran is hawkish on security and aims to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution.

She’s also a regular visitor of the controversial Yasukuni shrine where Japan’s war dead including some convicted war criminals are memorialised.

She will likely be confirmed by parliament, although not automatically like her predecessors because the ruling party is in a much weaker position now having lost its majority in both houses.