President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
The president of the Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党総裁, Jiyū-Minshutō Sōsai) is the highest-ranking member within the Japanese conservative party, the Liberal Democratic Party.[1][2] Due to the dominance of the LDP in Japanese politics, all except two (Yohei Kono and Sadakazu Tanigaki) have also been the prime minister of Japan. The current holder of the position is Fumio Kishida, who was elected to the position on 29 September 2021.
President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
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自由民主党総裁 | |
![]() Logo for the Liberal Democratic Party | |
Liberal Democratic Party | |
Type | Party leader |
Term length | Three years, renewable twice consecutively |
Inaugural holder | Ichirō Hatoyama |
Formation | 5 April 1956 |
Deputy | Vice President Secretary-General |
Elections
To be a candidate for the president, one must be a LDP member of the National Diet and must receive at least 20 nominations from other LDP members of the National Diet.[3] 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.[4] 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.[4] If any candidate wins a majority (over 50%) of votes in the first round, that candidate is elected President.[4]
If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, a runoff is held immediately between the top two candidates.[4] 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.[4] The candidate who wins the most votes in the runoff is then elected President.[4]
The party's secretary-general can decide to organise the election with the rule of the second round only.[5]
Term limits
According to Article 81 of the LDP Constitution, the president's term of office is three years, renewable twice consecutively.[6] Limits have fluctuated over the years since LDP's founding:
Period | Term of office | Term limits |
---|---|---|
1955–1972 | 2 years | Unlimited |
1972–1974 | 3 years | |
1974–1978 | Renewable once | |
1978–2003 | 2 years | |
2003–2017 | 3 years | |
2017– | Renewable twice |
Powers
According to the LDP constitution, the president "shall assume supreme responsibility for the Party, and represent and oversee the Party".[7] The president appoints the secretary-general, members of Finance Committee, and the director of the Forward Policy Study Unit, all with the approval of the General Council. The president also appoints the chairpersons of the Party Organization Headquarters, the Public Relations Headquarters, the Policy Research Council the Election Strategy Council, and the Personnel Committee, as well as the director of the Forward Policy Study Unit,[8] all with the approval of the General Council. The president can optionally appoint a vice president with the approval of the Party Convention.[7]
The president convenes and presides over the work of the LDP Board, which includes other high-ranking members of the LDP.[7] With the consent of the General Council, the president annually convenes the Party Convention.[9] The president is ex officio the director-general of the Party's Election Strategy Headquarters, tasked with formulating the LDP's election strategies,[10] and the chancellor of the Central Institute of Politics.[11]
Presidents of the party
No. | President (birth–death) |
Portrait | Constituency or title | Took office | Left office | Election results | Government | |||
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Party | Prime Minister | Term | ||||||||
Preceding parties: Democratic Party (1954) & Liberal Party (1950) | ||||||||||
Interim Leadership Committee (1955–1956) | ||||||||||
– | Ichirō Hatoyama (1883–1959) ![]() |
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Rep for Tokyo 1st |
15 November 1955 | 5 April 1956 | None | LDP | himself | 1954–56 | |
Bukichi Miki (1884–1956) |
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Rep for
Kagawa 1st |
LDP | Hatoyama I. | 1954–56 | |||||
Banboku Ōno (1890–1964) |
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Rep for
Gifu 1st | ||||||||
Taketora Ogata (1888–1956) |
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Rep for
Fukuoka 1st |
28 January 1956 | |||||||
Tsuruhei Matsuno (1883–1962) |
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Cou for
Kumamoto |
10 February 1956 | 5 April 1956 | ||||||
President (1956–present) | ||||||||||
1 | Ichirō Hatoyama (1883–1959) ![]() |
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Rep for | 5 April 1956 | 14 December 1956 | April 1956
Ichirō Hatoyama – 394 Nobusuke Kishi – 4 Others – 15 |
LDP | himself | 1954–56 | |
2 | Tanzan Ishibashi (1884–1973) ![]() |
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Rep for
Shizuoka 2nd |
14 December 1956 | 21 March 1957 | December 1956 1st round
Nobusuke Kishi – 223 Tanzan Ishibashi – 151 Mitsujiro Ishii – 137 December 1956 2nd round
Tanzan Ishibashi – 258 Nobusuke Kishi – 251 |
LDP | himself | 1956–57 | |
3 | Nobusuke Kishi (1896–1987) ![]() |
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Rep for
Yamaguchi 1st |
21 March 1957 | 14 July 1960 | 1957
Nobusuke Kishi – 471 Kenzō Matsumura – 2 Tokutaro Kitamura – 1 Mitsujirō Ishii – 1 1959
Nobusuke Kishi – 320 Kenzō Matsumura – 166 Others – 5 |
LDP | himself | 1957–60 | |
4 | Hayato Ikeda (1899–1965) ![]() |
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Rep for
Hiroshima 2nd |
14 July 1960 | 1 December 1964 | 1960 1st Round
Hayato Ikeda – 246 Mitsujirō Ishii – 194 Aiichirō Fujiyama – 49 Others – 7 1960 2nd Round
Hayato Ikeda – 302 Mitsujirō Ishii – 194 1962
Hayato Ikeda – 391 Eisaku Satō – 17 Others – 20 July 1964
Hayato Ikeda – 242 Eisaku Satō – 160 Aiichirō Fujiyama – 72 Hirokichi Nadao – 1 |
LDP | himself | 1960–64 | |
5 | Eisaku Satō (1901–1975) ![]() |
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Rep for
Yamaguchi 2nd |
1 December 1964 | 5 July 1972 | November 1964
Eisaku Satō – ![]() Aiichirō Fujiyama – ![]() Ichirō Kōno – ![]() 1966
Eisaku Satō – 289 Aiichirō Fujiyama – 89 Shigesaburō Maeo – 47 Hirokichi Nadao – 11 Uichi Noda – 9 Others – 5 1968
Eisaku Satō – 249 Takeo Miki – 107 Shigesaburō Maeo – 95 Others – 25 1970
Eisaku Satō – 353 Takeo Miki – 111 Others – 3 |
LDP | himself | 1964–72 | |
6 | Kakuei Tanaka (1918–1993) ![]() |
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Rep for
Niigata 3rd |
5 July 1972 | 4 December 1974 | 1972
Tanaka Kakuei – 282 Takeo Fukuda – 180 |
LDP | himself | 1972–74 | |
7 | Takeo Miki (1907–1988) ![]() |
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Rep for
Tokushima At-large |
4 December 1974 | 23 December 1976 | 1974
Takeo Miki – ![]() Takeo Fukuda – ![]() Masayoshi Ōhira – ![]() Yasuhiro Nakasone – ![]() |
LDP | himself | 1974–76 | |
8 | Takeo Fukuda (1905–1995) ![]() |
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Rep for | 23 December 1976 | 1 December 1978 | 1976
Takeo Fukuda – ![]() Masayoshi Ōhira – ![]() |
LDP | himself | 1976–78 | |
9 | Masayoshi Ōhira (1910–1980) (Died in office) ![]() |
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Rep for
Kagawa 2nd |
1 December 1978 | 12 June 1980 | 1978 1st round
Masayoshi Ōhira – 748 Fukuda Takeo – 638 Yasuhiro Nakasone – 93 Toshio Kōmoto – 46 1978 2nd round
Unopposed |
LDP | himself | 1978–80 | |
— | (Eiichi Nishimura) (1897–1987) Acting |
Rep for Ōita 2nd | 12 June 1980 | 15 July 1980 | Acting | LDP | (Ito M.) | 1980; Acting | ||
10 | Zenkō Suzuki (1911–2004) ![]() |
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Rep for | 15 July 1980 | 25 November 1982 | 1980 1st round
Zenko Suzuki – ![]() Kiichi Miyazawa – ![]() Yasuhiro Nakasone – ![]() Toshio Kōmoto – ![]() 1980 2nd round
Unopposed |
LDP | himself | 1980–82 | |
11 | Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918–2019) ![]() |
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Rep for | 25 November 1982 | 31 October 1987 | 1982 1st Round
Yasuhiro Nakasone – 57.6% (559,673) Toshio Kōmoto – 27.2% (265,078) Shintarō Abe – 8.2% (80,443) Ichirō Nakagawa – 6.8% (66,041) 1982 2nd Round
Unopposed 1984
Unopposed Walkover 1986
1-year Extension |
LDP | himself | 1982–87 | |
12 | Noboru Takeshita (1924–2000) ![]() |
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Rep for
Shimane At-large |
31 October 1987 | 2 June 1989 | 1987
Noboru Takeshita – ![]() Shintarō Abe – ![]() Kiichi Miyazawa – ![]() |
LDP | himself | 1987–89 | |
13 | Sōsuke Uno (1922–1998) ![]() |
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Rep for
Shiga At-large |
2 June 1989 | 8 August 1989 | June 1989
Sōsuke Uno – ![]() Masayoshi Itō – ![]() |
LDP | himself | 1989 | |
14 | Toshiki Kaifu (1931–2022) ![]() |
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Rep for
Aichi 3rd |
8 August 1989 | 30 October 1991 | August 1989 1st round
Toshiki Kaifu – 279 Yoshirō Hayashi – 120 Shintarō Ishihara – 48 August 1989 2nd round
Unopposed |
LDP | himself | 1989–91 | |
15 | Kiichi Miyazawa (1919–2007) ![]() |
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Rep for
Hiroshima 3rd |
31 October 1991 | 29 July 1993 | 1991
Kiichi Miyazawa – 285 Michio Wantanabe – 120 Hiroshi Mitsuzuka – 87 |
LDP | himself | 1991–93 | |
16 | Yōhei Kōno (b. 1937) |
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Rep for
Kanagawa 5th |
29 July 1993 | 1 October 1995 | 1993 1st round
Yōhei Kōno – 208 Michio Wantanabe – 159 1993 2nd round
Unopposed |
JNP | Hosokawa | 1993–94 | |
JRP | Hata | 1994 | ||||||||
JSP | Murayama (coalition) |
1994–96 | ||||||||
17 | Ryutaro Hashimoto (1937–2006) ![]() |
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Rep for | 1 October 1995 | 24 July 1998 | 1995
Ryutaro Hashimoto – 304 Junichiro Koizumi – 87 1997
Unopposed Walkover |
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LDP | himself | 1996–98 | ||||||||
18 | Keizō Obuchi (1937–2000) ![]() |
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Rep for | 24 July 1998 | 5 April 2000 | 1998
Keizō Obuchi – 225 Seiroku Kajiyama – 102 Junichiro Koizumi – 84 1999
Keizō Obuchi – 350 Koichi Kato – 113 Taku Yamasaki – 51 |
LDP | himself | 1998–2000 | |
19 | Yoshirō Mori (b. 1937) ![]() |
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Rep for | 5 April 2000 | 24 April 2001 | 2000
Yoshirō Mori – ![]() Mikio Aoki – ![]() Masakuni Murakami – ![]() Hiromu Nonaka – ![]() Shizuka Kamei – ![]() |
LDP | himself | 2000–01 | |
20 | Junichiro Koizumi (b. 1942) ![]() |
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Rep for | 24 April 2001 | 20 September 2006 | 2001 1st Round
Junichiro Koizumi – 298 Ryutaro Hashimoto – 155 Tarō Asō – 31 2001 2nd Round
Unopposed 2003 |
LDP | himself | 2001–06 | |
21 | Shinzo Abe (1954–2022) ![]() |
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Rep for | 20 September 2006 | 26 September 2007 |
Shinzo Abe – 464 Tarō Asō – 136 Sadakazu Tanigaki – 102 |
LDP | himself | 2006–07 | |
22 | Yasuo Fukuda (b. 1936) ![]() |
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Rep for | 26 September 2007 | 22 September 2008 |
Yasuo Fukuda – 330 Tarō Asō – 197 |
LDP | himself | 2007–08 | |
23 | Tarō Asō (b. 1940) ![]() |
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Rep for | 22 September 2008 | 16 September 2009
Acting: 16 September2009 – 28 September2009 |
LDP | himself | 2008–09 | ||
24 | Sadakazu Tanigaki (b. 1945) | ![]() |
Rep for | 28 September 2009 | 26 September 2012 | DPJ | Hatoyama Y. | 2009–10 | ||
DPJ | Kan | 2010–11 | ||||||||
DPJ | Noda | 2011–12 | ||||||||
25
(21) |
Shinzo Abe (1954–2022) ![]() |
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Rep for | 26 September 2012 | 14 September 2020 | 2012 1st Round
Shinzo Abe – 141 Shigeru Ishiba – 199 Nobuteru Ishihara – 96 Nobutaka Machimura 34 Yoshimasa Hayashi – 27 2012 2nd Round
Shinzo Abe – 108 Shigeru Ishiba – 89 2015
Unopposed Walkover
Shinzo Abe – 553 Shigeru Ishiba – 254 |
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LDP | himself | 2012–20 | ||||||||
26 | Yoshihide Suga (b. 1948) ![]() |
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Rep for | 14 September 2020 | 29 September 2021 | LDP | himself | 2020–21 | ||
27 | Fumio Kishida (b. 1957) ![]() |
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Rep for | 29 September 2021 | Incumbent |
Fumio Kishida – 257 Taro Kono – 170 |
LDP | himself | 2021–present |
References
- "Fumio Kishida elected as new leader of Japan's ruling LDP". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- "The President | Liberal Democratic Party of Japan". www.jimin.jp. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- "Rules for election of President | Liberal Democratic Party of Japan". www.jimin.jp. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
- Harris, Tobias (24 September 2021). "Japanese Prime Minister Suga Has No Clear Successor". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- Ryotaro Nakamaru (29 August 2020). "Race to succeed Abe kicks off with no clear favorite". The Japan Times. thejapantimes. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter XI Terms of Office". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter II Executive Bodies". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter IV Policy Research Council". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter III Decision-Making Bodies". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter V Election Strategy Headquarters". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- "LDP Constitution: Chapter IX The Central Institute of Politics". Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 23 October 2023.