Will Sanae Takaichi be Japan's Thatcher, or its Truss?

Recklessness rather than right-wing conservatism could be her undoing.

- Gearoid Reidy

Japan is set to have its first woman leader in Ms Sanae Takaichi. She wants to become the country’s version of her idol, the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Some fear she might be its Liz Truss.

Having won the race to head the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), she’s the presumptive next prime minister of Japan. But she faces one of the most challenging jobs in politics: reuniting a party in danger of crumbling, tackling voters' dissatisfaction with inflation, and managing a newly fractious relationship with its security guarantor, the US.

The former newscaster, amateur metal drummer and motorcycle enthusiast would assume the prime ministerial role after 65 men preceded her. Japan is set to soar up the gender equality rankings. But if anyone expects this to lead to a more liberal nation, think again - Ms Takaichi is comfortably the most conservative choice the party could have made, if not the most right-leaning leader in recent history.

This is her third time running for party head: The LDP has been switching leaders amid a struggle for popularity after it was left rudderless following the death of longtime leader Shinzo Abe. She made it to the runoff in 2024's contest, but her opportunity vanished as lawmakers were put off by what they viewed as her extremist stances. Former leader Fumio Kishida reportedly gave her the nickname “Taliban”, and was crucial in elevating the hapless Shigeru Ishiba to the leadership instead. This time, with the LDP in dire need of restoring its credentials, lawmakers saw they needed to lean right.

Since then, Ms Takaichi has smartly moderated her stance. "I realised last year for the first time that people might have thought of me as a very extreme, right-wing conservative," she said recently. "I think I’m an extremely ordinary Japanese person."