Significant lead
Japan’s new head of government wins election
Updated on February 8, 2026 – 12:57 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Japan’s first woman to head the government had called new elections to the lower house of parliament at short notice to consolidate her power. She succeeded.
Japan’s new national conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has won a clear victory in the general election. Your Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was able to regain a majority in the powerful parliamentary chamber, as Japanese media reported based on voter surveys after the polls closed.
Accordingly, the LDP is likely to have significantly increased its previous number of seats from 198 to more than 300 of the 465-seat chamber of parliament. With its current partner, the neoliberal Ishin party, it could even achieve a two-thirds majority.
The LDP, which has ruled almost uninterruptedly since 1955, had lost its majority in the lower and upper houses due to scandals in the previous elections. Supported by the right-wing Ishin party, it had recently only governed with a wafer-thin majority.
The LDP now benefited from the surprisingly high popularity of the right-wing Takaichi. Axel Klein, professor of political science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, told the German Press Agency that she knew how to use social media and television to specifically convey the image of a strong leader who would bring the country forward again.
Takaichi was only elected as the first woman to head the government at the end of October. It enjoys very high poll ratings and literally took the opposition by surprise with the new election that was called at short notice.
The main focus of the election campaign was the “foreigner problem”. Foreigners were not following the rules, the people felt uncomfortable and unsafe, and the LDP promised that this would be addressed “head-on.” She also wants to prevent foreigners from buying real estate with stricter laws.
According to observers, the LDP was able to use this issue to win back conservative voters who had turned to the right-wing extremist and openly xenophobic small party Sanseito. According to initial reports, Sanseito fell far short of expectations in the election. With the new election called at short notice, Takaichi caught the opposition off guard.
The largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, and long-time LDP partner Komeito frantically joined forces to form the Centrist Reform Alliance. The new party sees itself as a liberal alternative to the right-wing Takaichi. However, the head of government’s calculations worked out in the end: the new opposition alliance suffered significant losses in the parliamentary elections.
As a security policy hardliner, Takaichi advocates closer relations with the protecting power of the USA and an expansion of the armed forces in order to create a counterweight to China’s desire for power in Asia. Shortly after taking office, the 64-year-old clashed with Beijing when she said a Chinese attack on democratic Taiwan would represent an “existence-threatening situation” for Japan, which could lead to a military response.
