2025 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election

The 2025 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 4 October 2025 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

The election was called after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced that he would resign on 7 September 2025 as President of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. 

In the first round of voting, Sanae Takaichi came in first place during the first round of voting with 31.07% of the vote. Shinjirō Koizumi came in second with 27.84% of the vote, meaning that both Koizumi and Takaichi advanced to the runoff. In the runoff, Takaichi garnered 54.25% of the vote against Koizumi, resulting in the election of the LDP's first woman president and most likely Japan's first woman Prime Minister.

Candidates

 Declared 
Candidate(s)Date of birthCurrent positionParty factionElectoral districtReference(s)center|114x114pxYoshimasa Hayashi Chief Cabinet SecretaryMinister for Foreign AffairsMember of the House of Representatives  center|45x45pxYamaguchi 3rd center|86px Takayuki Kobayashi  Member of the House of Representatives  center|x30px Chiba 2ndcenter|120x120pxShinjirō Koizumi Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries   Member of the House of Representatives

 Declined 
 Shigeru Ishiba, incumbent Prime Minister (2024–present); Member of the House of Representatives (1986–present)
 Yōko Kamikawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs (2023–2024); Minister of Justice (2020–2021, 2017–2018, 2014–2015); Member of the House of Representatives (2000–2009, 2012–present)
 Katsunobu Katō, Minister of Finance (2024–present); Chief Cabinet Secretary (2020–2021); Member of the House of Representatives (2003–present) (endorsed Koizumi)
 Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister (2021–2024); Member of the House of Representatives (1993–present)
 Taro Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation (2022–2024); Minister for Foreign Affairs (2017–2019); Member of the House of Representatives (1996–present) (endorsed Koizumi)
 Seiko Noda, Minister-in-charge of Measures against Declining Birthrate (2021–2022); Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications (2017–2018); Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1998–1999); Member of the House of Representatives (1993–present) (endorsed Koizumi)

Polling

(Figures in parentheses are approval ratings of Liberal Democratic Party supporters)
Fieldwork datePolling firmSample sizeSanaeTakaichiShinjirōKoizumiYoshimasaHayashiTakayukiKobayashiToshimitsuMotegiOthers//NTV/JX(1,210)(35)(28)(23)(5)(4)–(5)ANN1,025(340)31(24)33(41)14(16)3(3)5(4)–14(12)Yomiuri3,143(519)25(28)40(41)16(13)5(8)4(4)–10(6)Kyodo News(1,044)(34.4)(29.3)(19.5)(3.8)(5.2)–(7.8)Nikkei/TV Tokyo915(284)34(28)25(33)14(20)4(3)5(6)–18(9)NTV/JX(1,108)(34)(28)(17)(5)(4)–(12)Sankei/FNN1,018(284)28.3(22.5)25.7(35.2)11.1(18.6)4(4)3.8(5.3)–27(14.4)Asahi1,176(306)28(24)24(41)9(10)5(3)4(8)–30(14)Mainichi/SSRC1,972(375)25(22)21(40)10(11)2(5)3(5)434(17)NTV/JX(1,010)(28)(32)(15)(7)(5)–(14)Senkyo.com/JX99523.426.714.13.86.5–25.4

Results
+ Full results by round CandidateFirst RoundRunoffDiet membersParty membersTotal pointsDiet membersPrefectural chaptersTotal pointsVotes%Popular votes%Allocated votes%Total votes%Votes%Votes%Total votes% Sanae Takaichi 6421.77%11940.34%183 31.07%14950.68%3676.60%185 54.25% Shinjirō Koizumi8027.21%8428.48%164 27.84%14549.32%1123.40%156 45.75% Yoshimasa Hayashi7224.49%6221.02%134 22.75%rowspan ="3" colspan="7"  Takayuki Kobayashi4414.97%155.08%59 10.02% Toshimitsu Motegi3411.56%155.08%49 8.32% Total294100.00%295100.00%589100.00%Valid votesInvalid and blank votesTurnoutRegistered voters

Notes

References

Category:2025 elections in Asia
Category:2020s elections in Japan
Category:October 2025 events
Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
Category:Sanae Takaichi