Japan’s ruling conservative party has elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning the 64-year-old to be Japan’s first female prime minister. Takaichi is among the more conservative candidates leaning to the ruling party’s right. A former government minister, TV host and avid heavy metal drummer, she is one of the best known figures in Japanese politics – and a controversial one at that.She faces many challenges, including contending with a sluggish economy and households struggling with relentless inflation and stagnant wages. She will also have to navigate a rocky US-Japan relationship and see through a tariff deal with the Trump administration agreed by the previous government.If confirmed as prime minister, one of Takaichi’s key challenges will be uniting the party after a turbulent few years which saw it rocked by scandals and internal conflicts. Last month, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose term lasted just over a year, announced he would step down after a series of election defeats that saw the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) governing coalition lose its majority in both chambers of parliament.Prof Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, told the BBC that Takaichi was unlikely to have “much success at healing the internal party rift”.Takaichi belongs to the “hardline” faction of the LDP, which believed that “the reason the LDP support has imploded is because it lost touch with its right-wing DNA”, he added.”I think she’s in a good position to regain the right wing voters, but at the expense of wider popular appeal, if they go into a national election.”Takaichi has been a long-time admirer of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. She is now ever closer to fulfilling her Iron Lady ambition. But many women voters don’t see her as an advocate for p …
