President of the Liberal Democratic Party
自由民主党総裁
Logo for the Liberal Democratic Party
Incumbent Fumio Kishida since 29 September 2021
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

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.

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]

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
							Party		Prime Minister	Term
Preceding parties: Democratic Party (1954) & Liberal Party (1950)
Interim Leadership Committee (1955–1956)
–	Ichirō Hatoyama (1883–1959)		Rep for Tokyo 1st	15 November 1955	5 April 1956	None		LDP	himself	1954–56
	Bukichi Miki (1884–1956)		Rep for Kagawa 1st					LDP	Hatoyama I.	1954–56
	Banboku Ōno (1890–1964)		Rep for Gifu 1st
	Taketora Ogata (1888–1956)		Rep for Fukuoka 1st		28 January 1956
	Tsuruhei Matsuno (1883–1962)		Cou for Kumamoto	10 February 1956	5 April 1956
President (1956–present)
1	Ichirō Hatoyama (1883–1959)		Rep for Tokyo 1st	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)		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)		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)		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)		Rep for Yamaguchi 2nd	1 December 1964	5 July 1972	November 1964 Eisaku Satō – Y Aiichirō Fujiyama – N Ichirō Kōno – N 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)		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)		Rep for Tokushima At-large	4 December 1974	23 December 1976	1974 Takeo Miki – Y Takeo Fukuda – N Masayoshi Ōhira – N Yasuhiro Nakasone – N		LDP	himself	1974–76
8	Takeo Fukuda (1905–1995)		Rep for Gunma 3rd	23 December 1976	1 December 1978	1976 Takeo Fukuda – Y Masayoshi Ōhira – N		LDP	himself	1976–78
9	Masayoshi Ōhira (1910–1980) (Died in office)		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)		Rep for Iwate 1st	15 July 1980	25 November 1982	1980 1st round Zenko Suzuki – Y Kiichi Miyazawa – N Yasuhiro Nakasone – N Toshio Kōmoto – N 1980 2nd round Unopposed		LDP	himself	1980–82
11	Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918–2019)		Rep for Gunma 3rd	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)		Rep for Shimane At-large	31 October 1987	2 June 1989	1987 Noboru Takeshita – Y Shintarō Abe – N Kiichi Miyazawa – N		LDP	himself	1987–89
13	Sōsuke Uno (1922–1998)		Rep for Shiga At-large	2 June 1989	8 August 1989	June 1989 Sōsuke Uno – Y Masayoshi Itō – N		LDP	himself	1989
14	Toshiki Kaifu (1931–2022)		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)		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)		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)		Rep for Okayama 4th	1 October 1995	24 July 1998	1995 Ryutaro Hashimoto – 304 Junichiro Koizumi – 87 1997 Unopposed Walkover
								LDP	himself	1996–98
18	Keizō Obuchi (1937–2000)		Rep for Gunma 5th	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)		Rep for Ishikawa 2nd	5 April 2000	24 April 2001	2000 Yoshirō Mori – Y Mikio Aoki – N Masakuni Murakami – N Hiromu Nonaka – N Shizuka Kamei – N		LDP	himself	2000–01
20	Junichiro Koizumi (b. 1942)		Rep for Kanagawa 11th	24 April 2001	20 September 2006	2001 1st Round Junichiro Koizumi – 298 Ryutaro Hashimoto – 155 Tarō Asō – 31 2001 2nd Round Unopposed 2003 Junichiro Koizumi – 339 Shizuka Kamei – 139 Takao Fujii – 65 Masahiko Kōmura – 54		LDP	himself	2001–06
21	Shinzo Abe (1954–2022)		Rep for Yamaguchi 4th	20 September 2006	26 September 2007	2006 Shinzo Abe – 464 Tarō Asō – 136 Sadakazu Tanigaki – 102		LDP	himself	2006–07
22	Yasuo Fukuda (b. 1936)		Rep for Gunma 4th	26 September 2007	22 September 2008	2007 Yasuo Fukuda – 330 Tarō Asō – 197		LDP	himself	2007–08
23	Tarō Asō (b. 1940)		Rep for Fukuoka 8th	22 September 2008	16 September 2009 Acting: 16 September2009 – 28 September2009	2008 Tarō Asō – 351 Kaoru Yosano – 66 Yuriko Koike – 46 Nobuteru Ishihara – 37 Shigeru Ishiba – 25		LDP	himself	2008–09
24	Sadakazu Tanigaki (b. 1945)		Rep for Kyoto 5th	28 September 2009	26 September 2012	2009 Sadakazu Tanigaki – 300 Taro Kono – 144 Yasutoshi Nishimura – 54		DPJ	Hatoyama Y.	2009–10
								DPJ	Kan	2010–11
								DPJ	Noda	2011–12
25 (21)	Shinzo Abe (1954–2022)		Rep for Yamaguchi 4th	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 2018 Shinzo Abe – 553 Shigeru Ishiba – 254
								LDP	himself	2012–20
26	Yoshihide Suga (b. 1948)		Rep for Kanagawa 2nd	14 September 2020	29 September 2021	2020 Yoshihide Suga – 377 Fumio Kishida – 89 Shigeru Ishiba – 68		LDP	himself	2020–21
27	Fumio Kishida (b. 1957)		Rep for Hiroshima 1st	29 September 2021	Incumbent	2021 1st Round Fumio Kishida – 256 Taro Kono – 255 Sanae Takaichi – 188 Seiko Noda – 63 2021 2nd Round Fumio Kishida – 257 Taro Kono – 170		LDP	himself	2021–present

Leadership elections

References