The 2021 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 29 September 2021 to elect the next President of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and Prime Minister of Japan. Fumio Kishida was elected to lead the party and assumed the premiership on 4 October. He led the party into the 2021 Japanese general election.

President of the LDP and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on 3 September that he would not run for his re-election, amid low approval ratings and media reports of dissension within the party. Suga was initially elected President of the LDP in 2020 to serve the rest of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's third and final term after Abe resigned in August 2020 due to health issues.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida won the election in a second round runoff, defeating opponent Taro Kono, the incumbent Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform. Kishida's victory was driven by strong support among LDP Diet members, while Kono led polling prior to the election and won the most votes from dues-paying party members. Kishida was confirmed by the Diet as Japan's 100th Prime Minister on 4 October 2021.

Background Shinzo Abe was elected President of the LDP three consecutive times in 2012, 2015 and 2018 following a rule change in 2017 which extended the office's term limit to three consecutive terms instead of two. He successfully led the LDP to three consecutive general election victories in 2012, 2014 and 2017 and assumed the premiership as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. On 28 August 2020, Abe suddenly announced that he would resign as Prime Minister and LDP president following a resurgence of his ulcerative colitis.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga won the party's special election in September 2020 to serve the remainder of Abe's term as LDP president, with Suga subsequently entering office as prime minister on 16 September. Suga had initially announced that he would run for re-election for a full term as LDP president in advance of the 2021 general election. On 3 September 2021, Suga reversed course and announced that he would not run for re-election as LDP president, amid poor approval ratings and media reports of internal dissension within the party regarding Suga's leadership.

Suga's withdrawal from the race as well as the fact that most of the LDP's internal factions have declined to endorse a specific candidate led to the election being described as wide open and unpredictable.

Election procedure The election process for the President of the LDP is established in the "Rules for the Election of President of the Party". To officially qualify as a candidate in the election, a candidate must be an LDP member of the National Diet and must receive a nomination from at least 20 fellow LDP Diet members.

The LDP selects its leader via a two-round election involving both LDP members of the Diet and dues-paying party members from across Japan. In the first round, all LDP members of the Diet cast one vote while party member votes are translated proportionally into votes equaling the other half of the total ballots. If any candidate wins a majority (over 50%) of votes in the first-round, that candidate is elected president.

If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, a runoff is held immediately between the top two candidates. In the runoff, all Diet members vote again while the 47 prefectural chapters of the LDP get one vote each, with the result of the latter votes determined using the first round results of party members in each prefecture. The candidate who wins the most votes in the runoff is then elected president.

The party's secretary general can decide to organise the election with the rule of the second round only, as was decided in 2020, but didn't as for 2021.

Candidates Declared Candidate(s) Date of birth Current position Party faction Electoral districtAnnouncedReference(s) Fumio Kishida Member of the House of Representatives Kōchikai(Kishida) Hiroshima 1st26 August 2021 Taro Kono Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory ReformMinister for COVID-19 VaccinationsMember of the House of Representatives Shikōkai (Asō) Kanagawa 15th10 September 2021 Sanae Takaichi Member of the House of Representatives Nara 2nd8 September 2021 Seiko Noda Member of the House of Representatives Gifu 1st16 September 2021

Withdrawn Candidate(s) Date of birth Notable positions Party faction(s) District(s) Announced WithdrewReference(s) Yoshihide Suga Prime MinisterMember of the House of Representatives (Suga) Kanagawa 2nd 17 July 2021 3 September 2021

Declined Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister (2006–2007, 2012–2020), Member of the House of Representatives, (1996–present) Chief Cabinet Secretary (2005–2006) (endorsed Takaichi) Taro Aso, Prime Minister (2008–2009), Deputy Prime Minister (2012–2021), Member of the House of Representatives, (1979–1983, 1986–present), Minister for Foreign Affairs (2005–2007), Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, (2003–2005) Shigeru Ishiba, Member of the House of Representatives (1986–present), Minister for Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy (2014–2016), Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2008–2009), Minister of Defense (2007–2008) (endorsed Kono) Shinjirō Koizumi, Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 11th district (2009–present), Minister of the Environment (2019–2021), son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. (endorsed Kono) Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Foreign Affairs (2019–2021), Member of the House of Representatives (1993–present), former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (2012–2014) and Secretary General of the LDP (since 2021) Hakubun Shimomura, Member of the House of Representatives (1996–present), Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2012–2015)

Supporters Recommenders Party regulations require candidates to have the written support at least 20 Diet members, known as recommenders, to run.

Number of recommenders by factions CandidatesFumio KishidaTaro KonoSanae TakaichiSeiko NodaHeisei Kenkyūkai4323Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai0301Kōchikai2000Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai4270Shikōkai4300Shisuikai0258Suigetsukai0200No faction6568

Endorsements

Opinion polling

Fieldwork datePolling firmSample sizeFumioKishidaSanaeTakaichiTaroKonoShigeruIshibaSeikoNodaOthersUndecided/NoneNotesKyodo News 1,014 22.4% 16.2% 47.4% – 3.4% – 10.7% Mainichi Shimbun 3,748 18% 28% 47% – 4% – 3% – Mainichi Shimbun 1,043 13% 15% 43% – 6% – 23% – Kyodo News 1,028 18.5% 15.7% 48.6% – 3.3% – 13.9% Seiko Noda officially announces her candidacyShigeru Ishiba announces that he will not run for the LDP leadership; Shinjirō Koizumi announces that he will not run for the LDP leadership and will back Taro KonoAsahi Shimbun 1,477 14% 8% 33% 16% 3% – 26% – Nikkei Asia N/A 14% 7% 27% 17% – – 35% – Taro Kono officially announces his candidacy Sanae Takaichi officially announces her candidacyKyodo News 1,071 18.8% 4% 31.9% 26.6% 4.4% – 14.3% – Yomiuri Shimbun 1,142 12% – 23% 21% – 11% 33% – PM Yoshihide Suga withdraws from the election; Taro Kono conveys privately to LDP members that he will run; and Seiko Noda expresses her willingness to run rowspan=2 Nikkei Asia1,025 13% 3% 16% 15.5% – 11% 41.5% 14% – 18% 12% –20% 36% Fumio Kishida announces his candidacy; and Sanae Takaichi expresses her willingness to run in the LDP presidential election.

Results + Full result Candidate1st Round2nd RoundDiet membersParty membersTotal pointsDiet membersPrefectural chaptersTotal pointsVotes%Popular votes%Allocated votes%Total votes%Votes%Votes%Total votes% Fumio Kishida  146 38.42% 219,338 28.86% 110 28.80% 256 33.60% 249 65.53% 8 17.02% 257 60.19% Taro Kono 86 22.63% 335,046 44.08% 169 44.24% 255 33.46% 131 34.47% 39 82.98% 170 39.81% Sanae Takaichi 114 30.00% 147,764 19.44% 74 19.37% 188 24.67%colspan="7" Seiko Noda 34 8.95% 57,927 7.62% 29 7.59% 63 8.27%colspan="7" Total 380 100.00% 760,075 100.00% 382 100.00% 762 100.00% 380 100.00% 47 100.00% 427 100.00%Valid votes38099.73%760,07599.75%382100.00%76299.87%38099.73%47100.00%42799.77%Invalid and blank votes10.27%1,9290.25%00.00%10.13%10.27%00.00%10.23%Turnout38199.73%762,00469.00%382100.00%76399.87%38199.74%47100.00%42899.77%Registered voters382100.00%1,104,336100.00%382100.00%764100.00%382100.00%47100.00%429100.00%

Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefectures (First Round) + Results of Party Members' Votes by PrefecturesPrefecturesTaro KonoFumio KishidaSanae TakaichiSeiko NodaVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Aichi17,46752.6%6,15018.5%6,72620.2%2,8768.7%Akita4,77062.0%1,38618.0%98212.8%5557.2%Aomori2,94337.0%3,43543.1%94311.8%6448.1%Chiba10,61748.1%4,71221.4%4,93922.4%1,7788.1%Ehime6,10946.4%3,46926.3%2,67420.3%9207.0%Fukui2,74234.5%2,71634.2%2,05025.8%4415.5%Fukuoka8,35540.0%7,39735.4%3,85818.5%1,2766.1%Fukushima4,23539.8%4,23339.7%1,34112.6%8457.9%Gifu8,51931.2%5,44220.0%3,34012.2%9,98936.6%Gunma9,07250.8%4,25423.8%3,28218.4%1,2497.0%Hiroshima1,9227.7%20,90284.2%1,6966.8%3201.3%Hokkaido12,37948.5%5,62522.0%5,14020.1%2,4119.4%Hyōgo8,10041.6%3,69519.0%6,20031.8%1,4917.6%Ibaraki13,20446.0%10,42836.3%3,33911.6%1,7416.1%Ishikawa5,64235.4%5,49434.5%3,93824.7%8685.4%Iwate2,59445.7%1,58227.9%86515.3%63211.1%Kagawa4,70740.8%4,73641.1%1,44312.5%6475.6%Kagoshima7,38156.5%2,52819.4%1,99115.2%1,1668.9%Kanagawa29,09266.1%6,18514.1%6,82915.5%1,8924.3%Kōchi2,67746.3%1,76730.5%86615.0%4728.2%Kumamoto6,01238.4%6,10939.0%2,78317.8%7434.8%Kyoto4,18839.7%3,15129.9%2,34422.3%8578.1%Mie3,87640.4%2,91930.4%1,90819.9%8909.3%Miyagi3,81538.4%2,89729.2%2,41724.4%7908.0%Miyazaki4,73254.4%1,98022.7%1,68719.4%3023.5%Nagano5,92150.2%2,48521.0%2,22818.9%1,1699.9%Nagasaki5,21339.3%4,46433.6%2,73020.6%8626.5%Nara1,19016.6%6599.2%5,13671.6%1842.6%Niigata9,54953.0%2,71315.1%4,36324.2%1,3897.7%Ōita5,35150.3%2,43022.9%2,17420.4%6766.4%Okayama6,26044.9%4,10629.5%3,02921.7%5433.9%Okinawa1,90441.9%1,73538.2%63213.9%2756.0%Osaka9,82138.2%6,25824.4%7,99431.1%1,6276.3%Saga3,06345.2%2,22132.7%1,05915.6%4436.5%Saitama13,87949.8%6,99325.1%5,15118.5%1,8416.6%Shiga4,32653.3%1,76421.7%1,47218.2%5516.8%Shimane3,73341.1%3,83842.2%1,16912.9%3483.8%Shizuoka8,72240.4%7,19833.4%4,47720.8%1,1695.4%Tochigi6,57347.9%3,59726.2%2,58718.8%9787.1%Tokushima3,70350.8%2,02527.8%98813.5%5757.9%Tokyo29,42544.5%18,65928.2%14,11821.3%3,9536.0%Tottori6,36082.0%5977.7%6178.0%1792.3%Toyama9,84247.3%5,35025.7%4,22620.3%1,3926.7%Wakayama4,89535.5%3,61826.3%2,96321.5%2,29616.7%Yamagata3,11640.8%3,26842.8%6698.7%5857.7%Yamaguchi2,94721.2%5,56540.1%5,03236.2%3452.5%Yamanashi4,10332.0%6,60351.5%1,36910.7%7525.8%Total335,04644.1%219,33828.9%147,76419.4%57,9277.6%

Aftermath After Prime Minister Suga announced his resignation, Kono was heavily favored to win the election as he was in first place among many LDP polls leading up to the election. His campaign was endorsed by Suga and other high ranking LDP members, but Kishida narrowly won the first round of the election and ultimately defeated Kono in the run-off.

After being elected, Kishida's victory was labelled as a win for the party's "technocrats establishment". Kishida was seen by many LDP members as a stable choice to succeed Suga rather than a rapid change. Kono was seen as a candidate of change. Kishida vowed not to increase the consumption tax rates in Japan and reviewing the pension and health-care system in the country. He has said that his main focus would be to focus on income redistribution to address income inequality.

U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Kishida and looked "forward to working with [Kishida] to strengthen our cooperation in the years ahead".

President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen congratulated Kishida after he was elected Prime Minister of Japan.

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References

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