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

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

Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), attends a press conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on October 4, 2025. Conservative Sanae Takaichi hailed a "new era" on October 4 after winning the leadership of Japan's ruling party, putting her on course to become the country's first woman prime minister. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / POOL / AFP)

Having won the race to head the Liberal Democratic Party, Ms Sanae Takaichi is the presumptive next prime minister of Japan.

PHOTO: AFP

Gearoid Reidy

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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.

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

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