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Investing.com-- Sanae Takaichi, leader of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, won a key lower house vote on Tuesday that clears the path for her inauguration as the country’s first female prime minister later in the day.
The 64 year-old conservative leader won 237 votes, more than the required majority in the 465-seat lower house, Japanese media reports showed.
But early voting results showed Takaichi did not gain a majority in Japan’s less powerful upper house, resulting in a runoff vote against Constitutional Democratic Party candidate Yoshihiko Noda.
The LDP leader is still expected to be sworn in as Japan’s 104th prime minister, and its first female premier, later in the day.
Takaichi will succeed Shigeru Ishiba, who had abruptly resigned in September after the LDP suffered crushing losses in recent elections.
Takaichi is widely regarded as a fiscal dove, and is expected to dole out more government spending on infrastructure, industrialization, and defence. She will take leadership of the world’s fourth-largest economy as it grapples with slowing consumer spending, sticky inflation, and trade-related headwinds from U.S. tariffs.
Takaichi has broadly called for more fiscal spending to support what she sees as a fragile economy, and has also opposed plans for more interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
Tuesday’s vote marks Takaichi’s third attempt at premiership, and makes her the fourth PM in five years from the scandal-ridden LDP.
Takaichi was viewed as being close to the late former PM Shinzo Abe, and is expected to enact policies in line with “Abenomics,” a set of economic policies aimed at boosting growth through aggressive monetary easing, flexible fiscal stimulus, and broad structural reforms.
Takaichi has also cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as one of her biggest influences.
Her premiership was seen as largely secured earlier this week, after the LDP formed enough alliances to create a ruling coalition government, albeit one with a smaller parliamentary majority than seen in 2024.