# 2008 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election

The 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 22 September 2008 after the incumbent party leader and Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda announced that he would resign on 1 September 2008, only 11 months after taking office on 25 September 2007 following a leadership election on 23 September 2007. Tarō Asō, who had lost to Shinzo Abe in the 2006 leadership election and then again lost to Fukuda in 2007, was widely seen as the frontrunner to replace him, and announced on 2 September 2008 he was ready to take over as party leader. Aso won the leadership election against four opponents, receiving 67% of the vote.
It was reported that Yuriko Koike, a former defence chief who is seen as close to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, might stand against Aso; in that case, the LDP leadership election would be a decision between the conservative traditionalist Aso and the unorthodox reformist Koike. Economics minister Kaoru Yosano and former transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of the controversial right-wing nationalist governor of Tokyo Shintarō Ishihara, also indicated they might run, as did former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, senior vice foreign minister Ichita Yamamoto and former science and economic minister Yasufumi Tanahashi. Campaigning began on 10 September 2008; a total of 528 people are eligible to vote (387 Diet members and 141 prefectural representatives).
To stand in the election, candidates had to gather twenty signatures from electors. Aso formally declared his candidacy on 5 September 2008, and Koike on 8 September 2008. Yosano, Ishiba and Ishihara also filed to run, while Yamamoto and Tanahashi decided not to stand for the leadership. Koizumi announced he would support and vote for Koike.
By election day, Aso had secured the votes of at least 60% of the electors and was assumed to win the election in the first round.
Aso went on to win the election by a landslide 351 votes. Yosano got 66 votes, Koike 46, Ishihara 37 and Ishiba 25. Aso was sworn in as Prime Minister on 24 September 2008. Some speculated that a general election would be called on 3 October for 26 October 2008 following the leadership election, but this failed to materialise.

## Candidates
### Declared

| Candidate(s) | Date of birth | Current position | Party faction | Electoral district |
| Tarō Asō | (1940-09-20)20 September 1940 (age 68) | Member of the House of Representatives (1979–1983, since 1986) Previous offices held Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications (2003–2005) Minister for Foreign Affairs (2005–2007) | Ikōkai (Asō) | Fukuoka 8th |
| Kaoru Yosano | (1938-08-22)22 August 1938 (age 70) | Member of the House of Representatives (1976–1979, 1980–2000, since 2003) Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy (2005–2006, since 2008) Minister of State for Regulatory Reform (since 2008) Previous offices held Minister State for Financial Services (2005–2006) | None | Tokyo 1st |
| Yuriko Koike | (1952-07-15)15 July 1952 (age 56) | Member of the House of Representatives (since 1993) Previous offices held Minister of the Environment (2003–2006) Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs (2004–2006) Minister of Defense (2007) | Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (Machimura) | Tokyo 10th |
| Nobuteru Ishihara | (1957-04-17)17 April 1957 (age 51) | Member of the House of Representatives (since 1990) Previous offices held Minister for Regulatory Reform (2001–2003) Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2003–2004) Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council (2007) | Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai (Yamasaki) | Tokyo 8th |
| Shigeru Ishiba | (1957-02-04)4 February 1957 (age 51) | Member of the House of Representatives (since 1986) Previous offices held Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency (2002–2004) Minister of Defense (2007–2008) | Heisei Kenkyūkai (Tsushima) | Tottori 1st |

## Results

Full result :
| Candidate | Diet members | Diet members | Prefectural chapters | Prefectural chapters | Total | Total | Total |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Allocated votes | % | Votes | Votes | % |
| Tarō Asō | 217 | 56.5% | 134 | 95.0% | 351 | | 66.8% |
| Kaoru Yosano | 64 | 16.7% | 2 | 1.4% | 66 | | 12.6% |
| Yuriko Koike | 46 | 11.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 46 | | 8.8% |
| Nobuteru Ishihara | 36 | 9.4% | 1 | 0.8% | 37 | | 7.0% |
| Shigeru Ishiba | 21 | 5.5% | 4 | 2.8% | 25 | | 4.8% |
| Grand Total | 384 | 100.0% | 141 | 100.0% | 525 | | 100.0% |
* 2 invalid votes

## Past leadership elections

* 2007 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election