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.
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
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.
Fumio Kishida
Shun'ichi Suzuki (Member of the House of Representatives for Iwate 2nd district) (Shikōkai)
Takumi Nemoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukushima 2nd district) (Kōchikai)
Masatoshi Ishida (Member of the House of Representatives for Wakayama 2nd district) (no faction)
Keitaro Ohno (Member of the House of Representatives for Kagawa 3rd district) (no faction)
Ayuko Kato (Member of the House of Representatives for Yamagata 3rd district) (no faction)
Hiroshi Kajiyama (Member of the House of Representatives for Ibaraki 4th district) (no faction)
Hayato Suzuki (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 10th district) (Heiseiken)
Tsuyoshi Takagi (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukui 2nd district) (Seiwakai)
Shinako Tsuchiya (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 13th district) (no faction)
Kozaburo Nishime (Member of the House of Representatives for Okinawa 4th district) (Heiseiken)
Noriko Horiuchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Yamanashi 2nd district) (Kōchikai)
Taro Honda (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyoto 5th district) (no faction)
Daishiro Yamagiwa (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 18th district) (Shikōkai)
Masayoshi Yoshino (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukushima 5th district) (Seiwakai)
Hiromichi Watanabe (Member of the House of Representatives for Chiba 6th district) (Heiseiken)
Kuniko Inoguchi (Member of the House of Councillors from Chiba) (Shikōkai)
Eriko Imai (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Shikōkai)
Satoshi Ninoyu (Member of the House of Councillors from Kyoto) (Heiseiken)
Shuji Miyamoto (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Seiwakai)
Masako Mori (Member of the House of Councillors from Fukushima) (Seiwakai)
Taro Kono
Tatsuya Ito (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 22nd district) (no faction)
Tetsushi Sakamoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Kumamoto 3rd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Toshiko Abe (Member of the House of Representatives for Okayama 3rd district) (Shikōkai)
Yoichi Anami (Member of the House of Representatives for Ōita 1st district) (Seiwakai)
Tadahiko Ito (Member of the House of Representatives for Aichi 8th district) (Shisuikai)
Hirotaka Ishihara (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 3rd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Kenichiro Ueno (Member of the House of Representatives for Shiga 2nd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Shohei Okashita (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (Shisuikai)
Ryosei Tanaka (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 15th district) (no faction)
Masaaki Taira (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 4th district) (Suigetsukai)
Hinako Takahashi (Member of the House of Representatives for Tohoku PR block) (Shikōkai)
Nobuhide Takemura (Member of the House of Representatives for Shiga 3rd district) (no faction)
Atsushi Nonaka (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 12th district) (Heiseiken)
Yoshihisa Furukawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Miyazaki 3rd district) (Suigetsukai)
Masahisa Miyazaki (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyushu PR block) (Heiseiken)
Hiroyuki Yoshiie (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 16th district) (Seiwakai)
Dai Shimamura (Member of the House of Councillors from Kanagawa) (no faction)
Shuko Sonoda (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction)
Kenji Nakanishi (Member of the House of Councillors from Kanagawa) (Shikōkai)
Yuhei Yamashita (Member of the House of Councillors from Saga) (Heiseiken)
Sanae Takaichi
Yasutoshi Nishimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 9th district) (Seiwakai)
Keiji Furuya (Member of the House of Representatives for Gifu 5th district) (no faction)
Hiroshi Hase (Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 1st district) (Seiwakai)
Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 12th district) (Shisuikai)
Taku Etō (Member of the House of Representatives for Miyazaki 2nd district) (no faction)
Minoru Kiuchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Shizuoka 7th district) (no faction)
Shuichi Takatori (Member of the House of Representatives for Niigata 6th district) (Seiwakai)
Minoru Kihara (Member of the House of Representatives for Kumamoto 1st district) (Heiseiken)
Hitoshi Kikawada (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 3rd district) (no faction)
Akimasa Ishikawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Ibaraki 5th district) (no faction)
Takayuki Kobayashi (Member of the House of Representatives for Chiba 2nd district) (Shisuikai)
Hajime Sasaki (Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 2nd district) (Seiwakai)
Shigeki Kobayashi (Member of the House of Representatives for Nara 1st district) (Shisuikai)
Seiichi Eto (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Shisuikai)
Eriko Yamatani (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Seiwakai)
Satsuki Katayama (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Shisuikai)
Shigeharu Aoyama (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction)
Hiroshi Yamada (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Seiwakai)
Kei Satō (Member of the House of Councillors from Nara) (Seiwakai)
Kimi Onoda (Member of the House of Councillors from Okayama) (Heiseiken)
Seiko Noda
Junko Mihara (Member of the House of Councillors from Kanagawa) (no faction)
Takeyuki Watanabe (Member of the House of Councillors from Gifu) (Heiseiken)
Toshitaka Ōoka (Member of the House of Representatives for Shiga 1st district) (Shisuikai)
Noboru Kamiya (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (Shisuikai)
Jiro Kawasaki (Member of the House of Representatives for Tōkai PR block) (no faction)
Yayoi Kimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (no faction)
Minoru Debata (Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Kanto PR block) (Shisuikai)
Kisaburo Tokai (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 10th district) (no faction)
Yasukazu Hamada (Member of the House of Representatives for Chiba 12th district) (no faction)
Kimichika Hyakutake (Member of the House of Representatives for Northern Kanto PR block) (Heiseiken)
Teru Fukui (Member of the House of Representatives for Shikoku PR block) (Shisuikai)
Takuma Miyaji (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyushu PR block) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Tsuyohito Iwamoto (Member of the House of Councillors from Hokkaido) (Shisuikai)
Masato Shimizu (Member of the House of Councillors from Gunma) (Shisuikai)
Yoshifumi Tsuge (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction)
Yosuke Tsuruho (Member of the House of Councillors from Wakayama) (Shisuikai)
Masayuki Tokushige (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction)
Toru Miki (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Shisuikai)
Taichirō Motoe (Member of the House of Councillors from Chiba) (Heiseiken)
Toshio Yamada (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction)
Endorsements
Endorsements of Fumio Kishida
Hiroshi Kajiyama (Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Member of the House of Representatives for Ibaraki 4th district) (no faction)
Toshimitsu Motegi (Minister for Foreign Affairs; Member of the House of Representatives for Tochigi 5th district) (Heiseiken)
Yōko Kamikawa (Minister of Justice; Member of the House of Representatives for Shizuoka 1st district) (Kōchikai)
Takuya Hirai (Minister for Digital Transformation; Member of the House of Representatives for Kagawa 1st district) (Kōchikai)